Peace By Chocolate Opens Flagship Halifax Store
HALIFAX — Peace By Chocolate officially opened a new, flagship storefront in Halifax on March 5.
Located on the waterfront in the new Queen’s Marque, the shop carries a broad selection of Peace By Chocolate products, including new additions like desserts and drinks.
Friday morning, shortly after throwing open its doors to the public for the first time, the shop was packed with people.
While lots were buying chocolate, many appeared to be there to congratulate or take pictures with CEO and founder Tareq Hadhad.
Hadhad and his family came to Canada in 2015 after a civil war forced them to flee their home in Syria. His father, Isam, ran a chocolate company in Syria, and shortly after arriving in Antigonish he and Tareq revived the business.
Since then, Peace By Chocolate has received national attention, propelled by its positive messages and the Hadhad family’s story.
Taking a few minutes to chat between greeting customers and posing for pictures Friday morning, Hadhad told Huddle it was a “overwhelmingly joyful” day.
“It’s a tremendous event and day for our family, for our fans and supporters, and the people behind our panel,” he said, gesturing towards the busy employees manning the counter behind proactive plexiglass.
He said customers were lining up at the door before the shop opened at 9 a.m. and that he was excited to see so many come out and show their support.
“It’s quite interesting, actually, looking around and seeing all of our products that we have created with pride since 2016,” he said. “It just really makes our hearts dance.”
Peace By Chocolate has big expansion plans for 2021 and the new Halifax store is an important part of them. Hadhad said he wanted the Halifax shop to be a “signature location for our story and our brand.”
He hopes the shop’s location and distinct visual flair will help accomplish that.
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Along with a lovingly painted portrait of Isam, the shop’s most striking feature is a large, aqua-tiled archway that creates a visual tunnel to a glowing peace sign affixed to the wall.
Hadhad says the archway is a tribute to Syrian architecture and that it represents peace and tranquility.
“No one asks you when you come to Nova Scotia to take off anything, so part of what we want to do is to share the piece that happens when we accept newcomers,” he said.
“It just really all translates to one message: that we came here to contribute and to share peace and love through each piece of chocolate. We usually say one piece won’t hurt, and now it’s 100 pieces won’t hurt,” he said with a grin.
Learn more about the story behind Peace By Chocolate by listening to Hadhad’s feature interview on the Huddle “Home Office” podcast: Syrian Chocolate Maker Joins Ranks Of Cod-Fathers And Code-Fathers.