Chocolatier to stay on monthly basis

With a store that was supposed to be closed two months ago, the campus chocolatier shows no signs of closing his shop anytime soon.

The Chocolate Guy, located at 3631 Walnut St., originally opened in December as a temporary business venture, with an expected closing date sometime after Valentine's Day. However, the store remains open at the end of April, and there are no indications that this status will change.

"I have no idea -- I don't have a date," said store owner James Glass, in reference to when he plans to close the store. "I was supposed to be out of there, and [the University] called me to ask to extend. They're pleased [with] the way the store developed."

According to Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino, the store's original lease has been extended indefinitely.

"He's on a month-to-month lease for the foreseeable future," Sorrentino said. "We're doing research about what the long-term use for that property could be, but we haven't made any decisions yet."

Glass, who operates a second location of The Chocolate Guy at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard in Center City, added that the current contract stipulates that when the University terminates his lease, it must give him an additional 60 days to vacate the site.

But in the meantime, The Chocolate Guy is not showing any signs of getting ready for its eventual exit from campus. In fact, the store is actually expanding its product line, and expects to add fresh smoothies by the beginning of next week, according to Glass.

So far, although the store's business has not been great, revenues have been good enough to keep the store open months longer than originally planned.

"It could be better, but it could be a lot worse," Glass said, adding that "we're still open."

And the University doesn't seem to mind.

"We like him," Sorrentino said. "We think he's great."

CORRECTION: This article incorrectly identifies James Glass as the owner of The Chocolate Guy. Glass is the shop's chocolatier and founder. The Chocolate Guy is a corporation of which Glass is not a majority owner.

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