Changing Hands and the Chocolate Factory

August 04, 2005

Opening the special candy bars, children and adults of all ages hold their breath. Only a select few will find a golden ticket entitling them to a complete tour of a local, independent chocolate factory. None are exactly sure what they will find there, if they do win. Some things are certain: Delicious chocolate will available at the factory for tasting; neither Johnny Depp nor Gene Wilder will be their hosts; and each will have had a chance to sample the array of literary goodies offered by Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona.

To celebrate the July 15 release of the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the literary contribution of Roald Dahl, Changing Hands and Granny's Chocolate Creations of Gilbert, Arizona, joined forces to recreate some of the excitement of the original contest devised by Willy Wonka.

According to Cindy Dach, Changing Hands' marketing and events manager, entering the contest is simple: "Anyone who comes to the store and purchases either a Changing Hands Book of Chocolates [custom created by Granny's], or a book by Roald Dahl, gets to pick a free chocolate bar from a special basket we keep at the register. Each book and each Book of Chocolates is worth one candy bar."

Of the hundreds of chocolate bars provided by Granny's, only 24 include a golden ticket, which will admit two visitors to the factory tour. The winners will be divided into three groups of 16 people each, who will visit Granny's on August 27.

Dach told BTW that the contest has become extremely popular. "Every kid in the Tempe area who has had a birthday since July 15 got at least one Roald Dahl book," she noted. "[The books] are not expensive, so people can buy a few."

The contest began on the same weekend as release celebrations for J.K.Rowling's, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Over a thousand people attended Changing Hands' midnight Potter party on Friday, July 15, featuring "Fire and Ice" -- real fire dancers dressed as Hogwarts' students and sno-cones. On the Saturday, Dach said, the store's all-day Hogwarts programming, complete with classes in spells, potions, fortune telling, readings, and magical creatures (actually frogs courtesy of the local zoo), drew another thousand participants.

Although the overlapping of the Harry Potter and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory events made life very hectic for the staff, Dach noted some advantages: "We already had the attention of all the media. We were featured in an article in USA Today and in all the local papers, on television and radio stations [for the Potter events]. But this time [with the Chocolate Factory promotion], we were picked up by the food writers ... we were on the front page of the food section of the Arizona Republic.

"The owners of Granny's are thrilled. They can't believe the publicity they are getting because of this. Now the Reddings [Granny's owners] are getting really excited about the tours -- they might wear costumes. I'm sure there will be plenty of news media there on the 27th."

Similar to the Harry Potter book release, the Chocolate Factory event has taken on a life of its own and has tapped many age groups. "We have older people saying that they want to win the tour for themselves," said Dach. "Guys are trying to win for their girlfriends. Kids want to buy every Roald Dahl book we have.

"Granny's has had to repeatedly make more of the candy bars, since we run out. They are giving us the bars for free."

Based on the success of this contest, the store is considering a Valentine's Day encore performance. "I think we should try it with a [pricier] hardcover next time," Dach said with a laugh.

In the original book and the two film versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie Bucket ends his tour with the ownership of the entire chocolate factory. Dach was quite certain that the prizes at Granny's will be slightly less extravagant.

"People are so excited because Granny's has never given public tours of the whole factory before," she said. "[Winners] will get samples of all the chocolates, and I think they'll all get hair nets to take home." --Nomi Schwartz

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