Nashville’s Goo Goo Clusters reopened its 3rd Ave location Friday after a $2 million renovation.
Now dubbed the Goo Goo Chocolate Co., she said that “we put a lot of thought into designing this space, we opened this store in 2014, and obviously, just kind of opened as a retail store, to sell our candy and sell some merchandise, and we learned quickly over time that people wanted more, they wanted to learn more about what a Goo Goo Cluster was.”
The renovated location offers build-your-own Goo Goo Cluster bars and boozy milkshakes. Chocolate classes will be offered, and the building can be rented for private events.
The classes offered are either Taste of Goo Goo, where for $50 visitors can have a chocolate tasting while you learn the history of Goo Goo Clusters, and experience hands-on chocolate making.
The other class is Secrets of Goo Goo, where for $75 adults can experience a wine and chocolate tasting while getting the history of Goo Goo Clusters and experience hands-on chocolate making.
Laurie Spradley, vice president of operations and brand development for Goo Goo Cluster said in a news release that “Our team has been hard at work creating an experiential Willy Wonka-esque destination unlike anything else in Nashville.”
She added that visitors can “be their own chocolatier and create a Design Your Own Premium.”
Goo Goo Clusters were originally created in 1912 at the Standard Candy Company at Clark & First Avenue in Nashville. It’s the first combination candy bar, designed by Howell Campbell, Sr., and Porter Moore. The Goo Goo Cluster website says that “Mr. Campbell is said to have blended chocolate the same way fine whiskey is blended.”
As for the candy company’s unique name, the website explains that Mr. Campbell was telling a teacher on a streetcar what his son’s first words were, “goo goo.” The teacher said, “That’s what you should call your candy – Goo Goo!” The company’s slogan soon turned into: “Goo Goo! It’s so good, people will ask for it from birth.”
The new Goo Goo Chocolate Company is located at 116 3rd Avenue S. in downtown Nashville, and is open daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
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Morgan Nicole Veysey is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Goo Goo Clusters” by Goo Goo Clusters.
