Sweetening Riverstone

COEUR d'ALENE - At exactly 3:07 p.m. on Friday, weeks of frantic activity yielded the result. "We're open," Susann Marino called out to employees who were still turning away customers at the door of Shugar Shack Chocolatier, even as she hustled about, stocking the shelves with fresh goodies. All day long people had been at the locked door, peering in with anticipation.

COEUR d'ALENE - At exactly 3:07 p.m. on Friday, weeks of frantic activity yielded the result.

"We're open," Susann Marino called out to employees who were still turning away customers at the door of Shugar Shack Chocolatier, even as she hustled about, stocking the shelves with fresh goodies. All day long people had been at the locked door, peering in with anticipation.

"I never thought I'd open to chaos like this," she said. "It's been that way for two weeks, honestly."

The latest Riverstone shop, just a few doors down from the Regal Cinema at 2384 N. Old Mill Loop, is chock full of chocolate and other sweet treats in a wide variety of styles.

ChocoPop, popcorn coated with chocolate, along with Shoofly Pizza, a two-pound concoction of premium chocolate with almonds, pecans, macadamias, Turkish apricots, raisins and cashews topped with white chocolate "it looks like the cheese," are just a couple of the trademark confections in the store.

In the middle of that pizza is its namesake, a giant edible fly.

"I searched the world to find the right ugly fly," Marino said.

That, along with the entire lineup of candy and pastries from the certified confectioner, comes from her childhood, when flies were shooed off food. Her professional career effectively began in high school, when she donated her ChocoPop to a variety of fundraising activities and later trademarked it.

"It is my own Shugar Shack blend," she said. "It is all about American chocolatiering. I want to celebrate the history and tradition, and be America's chocolatier."

Her grandmother's popcorn, with a large Hershey bar melted over it, was the genesis for ChocoPop.

Cupcakes, chocolate pretzels, Hug-a-Lumps, almond bark, truffles, gelato and sorbetto are just a few of the many items made in house.

"It's been nonstop work getting product made," Marino said.

With less than a day of operation, she hopes customers turning out for this weekend's Riverstone Festival and Coeur d'Alene Marathon will be patient as she and the five employees who work at the store get into the flow of business.

It was already crowded in the small shop on Friday, and if all goes as planned Marino hopes to expand to another bay next door. Inside are several small tables and a window booth, and a pair of tables for four is in the back, perfect for enjoying a cup of coffee and a pastry.

"We're bringing back the wooden nickel," Marino said, handing out wooden tokens good for a cup of coffee. No lattes, no cappuccino, no espresso, just basic American coffee.

The colorful store, with its red, yellow and green accents including the tissue paper in gift bags and extending even to polka dots in the tiles of the bathrooms, offers large helium balloons in those same colors, boxed chocolates, and numerous other items to come. Those include caramel, candy and fudge apples, lollipops and strawberry trees with white, milk and dark chocolate coatings.

"Those are popular for special events, like weddings and corporate events," she said.

One of her special treats is The Original Florida Sea Turtle, a chewy chocolate pecan patty. Portion of the sale from each is donated to the Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol, that helps preserve the turtles along the Atlantic coast.

Even the dozen varieties of gelato are given a special touch, with each flavor sporting a unique pattern and design in keeping with its flavor.

Chocolate connoisseurs will be welcome well into the evening, with hours of operation 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

"As long as there are customers," Marino said. "If someone is going to the theater and wants a cup of coffee and a cupcake, I don't care, we're open."

Shugar Shack accepts cash, Visa, MasterCard and American Express, but not checks.

Information: 664-8181