Gilbert Chocolates Opens New Factory
and Retail Store in Downtown Jackson
Brian Krichbaum talked about the move of Gilbert Chocolates to their new downtown location at 233 N. Jackson St., Jackson MI. The ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening occurred on Friday, October 14th.
The new location has 2,200 square feet of production space for hand crafting the gourmet chocolates, plus 800 square feet of space dedicated to a new retail store.
Store hours will be 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday.
In the Spring of 2016, Gilbert Chocolates owners Brian and Sally Krichbaum announced the plans of Gilbert Chocolates Company Returning to Downtown Jackson during late 2016.
Here’s what the downtown Jackson 100-year-old building looked like before the renovation project began.
Mike, from Alpha Design Studios, LLC in Jackson, helped us with the design work for our new retail store and chocolate factory.
Gilbert Chocolate’s new factory started with exterior painting at the top of the store front. (Thanks to George at P&T Fitness for loaning us the ladder).
Here’s our new friend, Bob, from the great folks at Bruton Electric right here in Jackson. Bob made sure everything was wired properly so that our chocolate equipment operates well at the new factory.
Faber Sandblasting from Rives Junction took our old painted, brick walls and turned them into a beautiful work of art.
A&A Plumbing provided the next phase of system installation to get our factory ready in downtown Jackson.
The old front façade of the building was removed, in preparation for new windows. Thanks to Andy Johnson of 5 Leprechauns and the guys at Jackson Glassworks.
A bare-naked front to what will soon be a beautiful renovation for Gilbert Chocolates in Jackson Michigan. We were so happy to discover cast-iron pillars on the front that were included in the original turn-of-the 20th century building design. These, along with the antique-green porcelain shop lights we discovered inside, will bring even more history alive again in this historical building.
The new store front was installed for Gilbert Chocolates in downtown Jackson. Thank you Jackson Glassworks for the great work!
New stairs were constructed so we can get upstairs to our non-perishable warehousing area.
Refinishing the hardwood floors complemented the original brick walls of this historical building in downtown Jackson, MI.
Basic construction of interior walls sectioned off the bathrooms in our building downtown Jackson.
Fresh paint and a good scrubbing prepared our chocolate factory area for production that is scheduled to begin in October of 2016.
State Senator Debbie Stabenow saw our new facility before it was even finished! We were honored to have her visit Gilbert Chocolates in Jackson during her tour of local businesses.
Bittersweet memories – after 52 years, we are moving Gilbert Chocolates away from this location on Ackerson Lake Drive to our larger factory and retail store in downtown Jackson Michigan.
The Gilbert Chocolates factory move happened in many shifts, with help from many employees and volunteers.
It took a lot of planning and muscle to organize the move of everything, including this huge table that is used for packaging each individual Gilbert Chocolates for your enjoyment!
Our famous Gilbert Chocolates are covered using this wonderful, original enrobing machine. We had to dis-assemble it into three separate parts in order to move it to the new location.
What started in Italy as marble hand-selected by our founder, John O. Gilbert himself, this marble tabletop was in the original Jackson factory in the early days of the company. Over 50 years ago, it was moved to the Ackerson Lake Drive factory, and in September, 2016, it was carefully prepared for the move to our new factory and retail store in downtown Jackson.
Marble helps keep the chocolate cool as we prepare each individual piece for you to enjoy. Here’s our huge, 900-pound marble table that survived the move to downtown Jackson!
Maranda Osterholm in the new Gilbert Chocolates kitchen in downtown Jackson!
Crissy working in the new Gilbert Chocolates candy bar labeling station at our new production facility in downtown Jackson!
We custom-made the chocolate candy display cases that will be in our new retail location at 233 N. Jackson St., in Jackson MI
An old Gilbert Chocolates sign adorns our new location!
Just in time for our grand opening – Brian Krichbaum hung up our new banner outside the building with our tagline “The Sweet Soul of Jackson”.