Chocolate Boutique in Sewickley opens in a new location

Sewickley’s Chocolate Boutique held the grand opening of its new location on June 27, overlapping with the Sewickley Valley Chamber of Commerce’s popular Night Mart.

That evening, owner Tracy McCoy and five employees darted around the chocolate shop, passing out free samples and serving chocolates, ice cream and milkshakes.

As customers walked in, they received raffle tickets for prizes including gourmet apples, pecan turtles, custom Chocolate Boutique ball caps and t-shirts, hydro flask water bottles, and gift cards for the Chocolate Boutique and Texas Roadhouse.

They handed out 40 giveaway prizes by the end of the evening, and emptied the chocolates from four sample trays — mostly into tiny, eager hands.

“Kids were very excited about the sample trays,” McCoy said, laughing.

More than 1,000 people came to the opening.

“It was really nice to hear how welcoming all of the people of Sewickley were,” McCoy, 56, said. “It was just so busy.”

The New Sewickley, Beaver County, resident is the owner of Chocolate Boutique, and makes the Boutique’s treats alongside staff members using a proprietary blend inspired by her grandmother. The candy is made at a manufacturing space in Beaver County.

“We do a lot of unique things,” McCoy said, adding that her favorite thing about her chocolates is their appetizing exterior. “I love when people walk in and say, ‘I feel like a kid in a candy store.’”

The new shop is three times bigger than the previous store, which was a few blocks away at 348 Beaver St. It offers classics including gourmet chocolate covered pretzels, Granny Smith candy apples, and chocolate covered Oreos, and the trending layered dessert, Dubai chocolate covered strawberries with pistachio cream, which sold out on opening day.

They also sell eight flavors of Hershey’s ice cream, including mint chocolate chip, banana pudding and chocolate peanut butter cup.

Retro candies and sodas with off-kilter flavors, including bacon, sweet corn, cucumber and black olive, line the store’s shelves.

McCoy said that she got the idea for her Chocolate Boutique after her son Billy was diagnosed with Lemierre’s Syndrome — a rare disease — and developed a jugular vein blood clot and an infection.

After being flown to the hospital, McCoy and her husband, William, were told that Billy’s organs were shutting down.

“They had me call my family, and told me that he wasn’t going to live,” Tracy McCoy said.

At the time, she had been working as a computer analyst for 13 years.

After more than 40 days in the hospital, her son recovered, and McCoy had a new sense of purpose.

“I vowed that when he got better, I would never sit in an office chair again,” she said.

Memories of making chocolate with her grandmother inspired McCoy to start selling her first chocolates to Candy Hut in Beaver Valley Mall in 2016.

Eight months later, she opened her very first store in Beaver County. She now has shops in South Hills Village, Monaca, Eastwood Mall in Ohio, two in the Mall at Robinson (one is a baking and candy supply store) and the Sewickley location.

Now, almost a decade later, McCoy said that opening her recent store in Sewickley was just as special as her first store.

“I love how big this store is and that I can find things here that I can‘t find in any other candy store,” said Franki Foley of Hampton.

McCoy attributed her success to the support of her son, husband and long-time employees.

“They were always there to support me,” she said from the day she opened her first store. “I’m super, super blessed for sure.”