Chocolate Shop-Coffee Bar Will Open in Drexel Town Square

The Drexel Town Square development team continues to line up businesses and review proposals for the 85-acre site at the corner of Drexel and Howell avenues. 

One of the businesses Patch has confirmed will be part of the development, which creates a new downtown for Oak Creek, will let patrons satisfy their sweet tooth and get their caffeine fix at the same time.


Andrew Dillon plans to open Dillon's Coffee Bar and Chocolate Shop in the spring of 2015. The business will be next to the town square on the south end of Drexel Town Square's Main Street. 

The store will offer Dillon's Chocolates products, which include bars, cookies, brownies, milks, truffles and a variety of gift assortments.

All of the recipes are Dillon's, and all of the chocolate is Belgian.

"We’re very traditional with our products," Dillon said. "We like to stick with those flavors and combinations that are tried and tested."

A bar will feature Dillon-made lattes and roasted coffees and will also give customers a first-hand look at how the chocolate are made: an observation area will be located behind the counter. 

Dillon will also offer classes to teach people the chocolate basics, like tempering and how to combine flavors. 

Just as important as the products, in Dillon's view, is the environment the shop will create. 

He seeks to connect to Wisconsin through imagery, which will include hand-painted murals illustrating the state's seasonal changes. 

"The concept behind that is really to create an environment for everyone to walk into and connect with that inner nostalgia that most people have from their childhood," Dillon said. "Warming colors, robust colors ...  it's really about connecting with each person in a personal way."

Dillon's Chocolates just opened a location at Southridge Mall, where many of the products are sold.

But the Drexel Town Square business represents a new venture for Dillon, who has spent the last 12 years working across the country in catering and restaurants, as a pastry chef and at hotels like the Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons.

"At the end of the day, it always came down to, 'I want to do something my way,'" he said. "'My way' just simply means something that I know everyone enjoys.

"Most people enjoy chocolate. Most people enjoy different varieties of chocolate. And most people enjoy warming, nostalgic things." 

Oak Creek and Drexel Town Square were natural draws because of his family's roots, he said. His father grew up near the old apple orchards on 27th Street; his grandmother remembers riding her horse down what is now Howell Avenue, Dillon said. 

He said his goals are aligned with those of Drexel Town Square developers, who are trying to attract unique businesses to the site. 

More business announcements coming later
Officials leading the Drexel Town Square project aren't commenting on other businesses planned for the site. 

Some businesses could be announced by the end of the year, but the majority will likely be announced in the second quarter of 2014, Wispark spokesman Brian Manthey said. 

Besides Dillon's, a few names—including Bukacek Construction and Brick 3 Pizza—have trickled out. Among the other businesses developers are lining up include a brewpub, which Dillon said could be next to his shop.

Drexel Town Square's Main Street will feature first-floor shops and second-floor apartments leading to the town square. About 500 to 600 apartments are planned west of Main Street. 

A new Oak Creek city hall-library building will be on the south side of the town square. Construction on that facility is expected in early 2014. 

A Meijer store is planned for the east end of the development next to Howell Avenue. Other buildings may be constructed on outlots next to Howell and Drexel avenues. 

Infrastructure work at Drexel Town Square is expected to begin by the end of the year, City Administrator Gerald Peterson previously told Patch.