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Franchise 50747
Brentwood, CA
(925) 513-3384
Your Hosts: Craig and Christine McKnight
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NEWS
CBS Channel 5 Shop Local ProgramAs part of the 2009 CBS Channel 5 Shop Local Program our Brentwood, CA store is featured on the CBS 5 website along with a fabulous video of our store! Thank you for shopping local in our community and making our store a success!
Visit the CBS 5 Website Today! Copy & Paste the link below in your web browser:
http://cbs5.com/shoplocal?categoryID=275
Scroll down to our business and click on VIEW VIDEO/MAP.
An informative and fun 12-minute video will introduce you to us, Craig and Christine, as well as our employees. You will get a tour of our store, a preview of the many products we offer and make, as well as a glimpse at our fresh fudge making demonstration! Enjoy! | The ABCs of last-minute giftingThe Brentwood Press
December 15, 2009
It’s nearly here, and we’re not talking about Christmas. We’re talking about that special time, just before Christmas arrives, when you run out of time not only to buy those last few gifts, but ideas about what they should be as well.
Once again this year, the Press and the merchants of East Contra Costa are here to help. Here is the 2009 edition of “The A, B, C’s of last-minute gift buying,” an alphabetical run-down of random ideas aimed at possibly re-stoking your gifting imagination, or perhaps just reminding you that Uncle Bob takes lousy snapshots (see “P is for Picture). Whatever it is you need or want, it’s out there, and probably just around the corner from your house...
S is for Sugar, which comes in some of its most delicious forms over at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (925-513-3384) at the Streets of Brentwood. Of course, not everything Craig and Christine McKnight concoct for their customers has sugar in it; they also offer festive tins, baskets and boxes they’ll use to wrap the up yummies... | Sweethearts Serve Up Sweetsby Samie Hartley
The Brentwood Press
April 10, 2009
Christine McKnight isn’t expecting chocolates this Valentine’s Day. It’s not that she doesn’t like chocolate. She’s actually a self-proclaimed “chocolateer,” but husband Craig will need to be a little more creative this year, as the two have just opened Brentwood’s newest sweet shop, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
The high school sweethearts from Liberty have dreamed of owning their own business for 15 years and their vision finally became a reality last October when their store opened its doors as part of the grand opening of the Streets of Brentwood.
“We always wanted to own our own business and work together as a team,” Christine said. “We’ve had this vision since high school, and this business works for us. I have a business degree and Craig has a background in gourmet foods, so this is perfect for us. I handle the business side and he’s out in front (of the shop) making the chocolate.”
That’s the thing that sets the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchise apart from the competition: half of its products are made on site.
The most popular Valentine’s Day item, chocolate-dipped strawberries, is made fresh daily. Anticipating the Valentine’s rush, the McKnight’s have been taking pre-orders for strawberries, and they also plan to have extra berries on hand for last-minute lovebirds looking for the ideal gift.
Christine said that when it comes to buying a gift for Valentine’s Day, it’s the quality that matters most – not the quantity. “I know this sounds cheesy, but it’s the thought that counts. A single wrapped truffle can be just as meaningful as a three-pound box of chocolates.”
Truffles are the other anticipated big seller this year. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory offers truffles in a variety of flavors: mint, French vanilla, Kahlua, black cherry, Irish cream, champagne, amaretto, milk chocolate and dark chocolate.
“The truffle is the jewel of our candy case,” Christine said. “It takes three days to make them, and they’re so rich that just one will leave you with a smile on your face.”
Chocolate comes in many forms at the shop. There’s something for everyone. For the chocoholic, there are fudges, chocolate bars, frozen chocolate-covered cheesecake on a stick, and chocolate-dipped marshmallows; for the more adventurous, Christine suggests chocolate-covered potato chips, which quench a sweet and salty craving in one bite.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory also offers a variety of sugar-free chocolates so that even the health conscious can still indulge once in a while. Sugar-free candies come in the forms of nutty clusters, buttercreams, chewy caramels, and milk, dark and white chocolates.
Even Fido will find a tasty treat at the Factory. The Brentwood location offers Dipped Dog Bones which are biscuits dunked in white liquor, the cream that’s drizzled on top of chocolates, which doesn’t contain the chemicals that are harmful to dogs.
If chocolate isn’t what flips your switch, there’s something for you, too. The most popular non-chocolate item is the caramel apples. While you can get the standard apple drenched in creamy golden sauce, the Factory takes it to a new level, creating an apple art form with gourmet apples covered in M&Ms, peanuts or chocolate chips, among other coatings.
For Valentine’s Day, caramel apples are dressed in festive pink and white. Pre-packaged heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are also available for purchase, as well as chocolate roses and lollipops.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is located at 2485 Sand Creek Road, Suite 136, across from the Streets of Brentwood fountain. It’s open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 925-513-3384 or visit the Web site. | REGION PINS HOPES ON LAVISH STREETS OF BRENTWOODBy David Goll
San Francisco Business Times
November 28-December 4, 2008
Craig McKnight knew pretty early business was going to be brisk at his Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store in the Streets of Brentwood retail center that opened Oct. 24. He needed just a few extra apples from his supplier, JT's Produce of Brentwood.
"We had ordered 800 Granny Smith apples for the opening weekend," McKnight said of the central ingredient for the company's popular caramel apple confection. "Turns out we went through 1,800."
At any given time that weekend, a line of at least 20 people stretched outside his shop's door. A 460,000-squarefoot lifestyle center covering 60 acres near Highway 4, the Streets of Brentwood was built at a cost of $160 million by Continental Real Estate Cos. of Columbus, Ohio.
It's not only the first upscale lifestyle retail development in Brentwood, the former farm town that now has 53,000 suburban residents, but throughout East Contra Costa County. Along with elaborate landscaping, water fountains and decorative lighting, the center features a huge draw for suburban community: a 14-screen, 3,000-seat Rave Motion Pictures cineplex that is the Dallas-based company's debut in California. When built out, Streets of Brentwood will have more than 60 specialty retail tenants.
McKnight is thrilled with the reception his store has received.
"We stayed open an extra one-and-a-half hours each of those days to accommodate our customers," said McKnight, a former chef at the Diablo Country Club near Danville and The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards in Livermore. He bought the franchise from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory with his wife, Christine.
"We're trying to provide a fun family atmosphere, which means a lot in Brentwood, where there's lots of kids," McKnight said. "We make our candy in the window and the kids love watching it. We even had a few babies drooling on the front window."
The retail excitement in Brentwood comes at a time when a moribund economy has most retailers and shopping centers pining for shoppers. Even the holiday season may not provide respite from bleak retail prospects. The National Retail Federation has projected a 2.2 percent increase in sales this year compared with last, the lowest in six years, while most other industry observers are more in line with TNS Retail Forward's predicted 1.5 percent growth in sales - the lowest in 17 years.
Linda Maurer, Brentwood's economic development director, said the development of Streets of Brentwood was just ahead of the bad-news tidal wave, helping ensure the first phase of 300,000 square feet would open. A 24,000-square foot location of REI, the Kent, Wash.-based recreational equipment retail cooperative, is scheduled to open in February, and several restaurants are expected to debut in coming months.
"This project just squeaked by," Maurer said of the October 2007 start of construction. "If it had been one month later, I'm not sure we would have it today. November (2007) is when the housing market really started going south."
Maurer said the McKnight's aren't the only Streets of Brentwood merchants who have been busy. Despite the economy, the novelty value of the tony center hasn't worn off yet.
"There has been a significant void in specialty shopping in East County, and there are 250,000 people in this trade area," she said. "Before, people looking for these kinds of stores had to drive to Pleasanton, Walnut Creek or Concord. So, when this place opened, we had lines of people waiting for stores to open."
Brentwood Mayor Bob Taylor said while sales tax revenue projections for the center are "a bit inconclusive at this point," he has no doubt Streets is already an asset to Brentwood. In a city that has suffered from the housing foreclosure crisis, both in existing homes and hundreds more not being built, the retail center has provided a dose of optimism.
| East County's first upscale mall opens todayBy Paula King
East County Times
Article Launched: 10/22/2008 07:33:33 PM PDT
Like other East County residents, Christine McKnight has had to venture outside of her community to splurge on a high-end, upscale shopping experience.
The Brentwood resident was often forced to make the drive to regional shopping centers like Pleasanton's Stoneridge Mall and Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek. Sometimes, she would even take a BART ride to San Francisco for boutique-style shopping excursions.
Starting this weekend, McKnight will now have the convenience of finding her favorite name-brand items just miles from home at The Streets of Brentwood lifestyle center. The 400,000-square-foot retail destination, which opens at 10 a.m. today, boasts 60 specialty retailers, various restaurants and a 14-screen Rave Motion Pictures theater.
"It is something right here in our own neighborhood that we can have pride in. It is going to be so much fun," McKnight said. "We all still have those needs for retail and sometimes, we like to splurge a little bit."
Besides frequenting the Streets project as a consumer, McKnight is also one of its retailers. She and her husband, Craig, are opening a franchise of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
Based out of Colorado, Rocky Mountain specializes in gourmet chocolates, candy apples and decadent truffles. The nearest locations recently opened in Concord's Sunvalley Mall and at Stoneridge.
Brentwood's Rocky Mountain is surrounded by retail giants like Aeropostale, MAC Cosmetics, Talbot's, Express, Chico's, Ann Taylor Loft, DSW, Banana Republic, American Eagle, Limited Too and Hollister. Among the dining options are Rubios, Red Robin and Salad Makers.
"We have so many people just trying to walk around to see what is here. The entire community is so excited," Streets General Manager Tracey Nobil said. "This is the largest commercial retail development in the whole Bay Area right now. It will definitely serve the entire Delta region and the Valley too."
Some stores will be opening a few days later and others will be delayed, Nobil said. REI's building is not complete, and it won't open until this spring.
The Streets development is called a lifestyle center because it combines shopping, restaurants and entertainment in one venue. The outdoor mall is a major trend in the retail industry, according to Nobil.
"I think the most interesting part about the lifestyle centers is they can become what a community needs them to be," she said. "I think what people here are looking for is having things locally."
McKnight said the center is unique to the area for its scenic setting, striking architecture and special ambiance.
"This is going to provide something that is fun and a nice treat. We just don't have anything like this. People are excited about the newness and freshness of it." As one of the center's anchor tenants, Rave will open its first California location there. The state-of-the-art movie theater includes 3D capability, digital projection, digital surround sound, rocker seats with lifting armrests, and 48 inches between rows for maximum patron comfort.
Rave Vice President of Marketing Jeremy Devine said the multiplex appeals to all age groups because of its comfort and vibrance. He added that it is a perfect fit with the overall Streets atmosphere.
"You create a critical mass here, which is really great for movies," Devine said.
Naeem Qazi will open a second location of his Antioch business at The Streets. The Stunners and Smashers Spalon is the center's only salon and day spa, with 12 stylists and three skin care professionals.
"We like the high visibility, and it is a great outdoor, high-end mall," he said. "It will do well. With our business model, the economy doesn't affect it as much." |
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