New ownership for Parkside Schakolad
“We are here, not because it’s a new business … what we do have to introduce you to are new owners,” FWKCC president/CEO Julie Blaylock said. “I did get to taste their chocolate-covered strawberries, and I’m here to tell you if you want to judge a chocolate-covered strawberry, you have to try theirs because it will take your standards to the next level.”
While the chocolate-covered strawberries were the draw to open the shop, other treats inclue turtles — caramel and pecans dipped in milk, white or dark chocolate — chocolate and caramel-covered apples, chocolate-dipped potato chips, sugar-free chocolate.
“All the chocolate is gluten-free,” Stephanie said. “The dark chocolate is dairy-free and vegan.
“We have 50 to 75 different chocolates,” she added.
Schakolad also makes and sells Dubai chocolate, originally started in the United Arab Emirates. It is a chocolate bar filled with pistachio butter and knafeh, a sesame seed filling.
“We sell about 50 a week,” Stephanie said.
Even after buying the shop, the Pattersons never heard of Dubai bars, but customers called and asked about it. Eventually, they got on Tic Toc and learned about them.
They started making the bars — and they took off.
“People really love it,” Stephanie said. “We have that in pistachio and cookie butter.”
For corporate business people looking for small gifts, they can place an order for chocolates with company logos. “It’s just an edible paper that goes on chocolate,” Matt said.
“If we don’t have a mold, we have a company that can make a mold,” Stephanie said.
The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturdaym and closed Sunday.
For more information about Schakolad Chocolate Factory, call 865-675-2626 or e-mail to turkeycreek@schakolad.com
The Pattersons’ purchase started with a desire to open a business and a trip for chocolate-covered strawberries.
In December 2023, “we were talking with the kids at dinner one night,” Matt recalled. “My son (Hayden) just graduated, and my daughter (Emmily) is a junior. We wanted to encourage them to start their own business.
“Lo and behold, little did I know that in January (2024), one month later, we would start taking this business over,” he added.
Moreover, “My kids (also oldest child, Ally) are also owners,” Matt said. “They bought into the business themselves, so it is a family-run business.”
The Pattersons were in Charleston, South Carolina, last December, but Stephanie works in Knoxville and Charleston.
“We bought strawberries here all the time, so she came in to buy strawberries while she was working (in Knoxville), for a co-worker, and saw that the shop was for sale,” Matt said. “She called me out in the parking lot and asked, ‘What do you think about buying a chocolate shop?’”
“His exact words were ‘You have lost your mind,’” Stephanie recalled Matt, not originally a chocolate fan, telling her.
“Two months later we bought the shop.”
