Keywords: handmade chocolates, Sweet Sloops, gift chocolates, custom chocolates
Interview Q&A
How long have you been in business?
43 years
What is your primary product or service?
Gourmet Chocolate
How did you first become interested in your line of business? (if owner) - What is your background? (If owner or store manager)
Harbor Sweets started out of Ben Strohecker's, our founder, passion to create the very best chocolate in the world.
How do you differentiate yourself from other businesses in your category and area?
What is unique to Harbor Sweets is what has not changed in four decades. We still employs our original chocolate making techniques using copper kettles and wooden paddles, combined with the finest local ingredients of fresh butter, cream and wildflower honey.
We embrace our personal connections with our retail and direct customers. Moreover, we support the community, rehire seasonal, and part time neighborhood workers, many of whom are 20 year veterans. We have never outsourced and we continue to work steadily from our only factory, a red brick, non-automated facility where uncompromising hands-on manufacturing is the norm.
How many locations do you have and do you have plans to expand?
We have been in the same location for forty years with no immediate plans for expansion
Provide detailed directions to your location
We are located at 85 Leavitt Street in historic Salem, Massachusetts.
128 (North or South)
Take exit 25A to Route 114 East, towards Salem and Marblehead. Follow 114 for about 3 miles through Peabody and into Salem. Route 114 will become Lafayette Street. Take 3rd left onto Leavitt Street. You will see the Berube Funeral Home on the corner of Leavitt St. It is white with green shutters and awnings. Follow to the end of Leavitt. Harbor Sweets is a red brick building on the left at the end, #85.
1A North (from Boston, Lynn, Revere)
Follow 1A North into Salem. When you come to the intersection where Salem State College is on your right, turn left. You will now be on Lafayette St. (the continuation of 1A). Follow Lafayette St. to Leavitt St. It is the 8th side street on your right, just after the Saltonstall School. Turn right onto Leavitt St. and follow to the end. Harbor Sweets is a red brick building on the left at the end, #85.
1A South (from Cape Ann area: Beverly, Ipswich, Essex, Gloucester, etc.)
Follow 1A South into Salem to the intersection of Congress and Derby Streets, just past the Hawthorne Hotel. At the intersection of Congress and Derby Streets, go straight to the end. You will pass Pickering Wharf on your left. At the "T", go left onto Leavitt. Harbor Sweets is on the left in a red brick building, #85.
114 West (from Marblehead)
Follow 114 (also Lafayette Street) into Salem. About a half a mile past Salem State take a right onto Leavitt Street, the 8th side street, and follow to the end. Harbor Sweets is a red brick building on the left at the end, #85.
What type of payments do you accept?
Amex, Visa, cash and check
Which areas do you service?
Our retail shop serves the north shore of Massachusetts but we serve and ship worldwide
Who owns your company or runs daily operations?
CEO and owner, Phyllis Leblanc
What are your hours of operation?
Our retail store hours:
8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Monday - Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Saturday
What is the best compliment anyone can give you?
That we have fulfilled Ben Strohecker's pursuit for creating the best chocolates in the world.
What is your favorite quote or Bible verse?
Treat others with honor and respect as you yourself would want to be treated