Who doesn’t love Kit Kats? They’re tasty, available in many interesting flavors, and they’re even considered a good luck snack in Japan for students preparing for entrance exams because the name Kit Kat sounds somewhat like the phrase “You’ll win for sure! (Kitto Katsu)” in Japanese. Well, the popular chocolate snack now seems to have reached a new level of refinement and consumer appeal, as the world’s very first specialty Kit Kat shop opened this past Friday at the Seibu Department Store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. A shop that sells Kit Kats exclusively? Now, that sounds like something to be excited about!
But that wasn’t all — to our further delight, we heard that the Kit Kat Chocolatory, as the specialty shop is called, was selling Kit Kats in original flavors created by renowned patissier Yasumasa Takagi. Well, there simply was no way we were going to miss this, so off we went to Ikebukuro to visit the shop, on opening day, no less! What else could we do, right?
▼Once we were at the Seibu Department Store, the signs made it easy to find the shop.
▼A bright red sign with the Chocolatory name and patissier Takagi’s brand logo greets customers.
▼Although it was around 8 p.m., there was still a bit of a crowd, and we had to wait about 15 minutes. Well, it was opening day, after all.
▼There was some heavy-duty advertising going on, even outside the shop on the station pillars.
▼The shop name and logo were clearly visible from the outside of the shop too.
▼They had some cute, pop-looking displays. These are some shots of the displays that could be seen from outside the shop.
▼There were also several monitors showing promotional footage (yes, featuring lots of sweet-looking chocolate).
▼Inside the shop, they also had displays relating a little bit of Kit Kat history.
▼Ohhh… this Kit Kat chandelier was lovely!
▼They had three different flavors on sale at the shop, but one of them, the “Kit Kat Sublime Bitter” which uses couverture chocolate, was sold out, as this sign told us. They apparently sold out quite quickly around midday!
▼This is what the sold out “Sublime Bitter” Kit Kats looked like. These are priced at 315 yen (US$3) a piece or 3,413 yen ($32) for a package of ten.
▼The other original flavors available were “Chili” (left) and “Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Green Tea” (right), both selling at 420yen for a package of four. All three of these flavors are apparently available only at this shop. The Chili flavored Kit Kats, which they had samples of for customers to taste, really did have a spicy taste.
▼There was also an “oh-en (support)” edition Kit Kat in a special package especially made to wish students taking entrance exams good luck.
▼This is how the actual Kit Kats being sold were displayed in front of the counter.
▼Yes, business was brisk, with quite a crowd gathering in front of the counter.
▼We bought a package of the Sakura Green Tea Kit Kats
▼The box is labeled with the name of the flavor.
▼And the Chocolatory logo appears on the box as well.
▼The side of the box is illustrated with a lovely sakura flower.
▼We opened the box and looked inside …
▼Each Kit Kat came individually wrapped in a pretty red and green package.
▼And this is what the actual Kit Kat looked like, in the color of green tea.
So, there you have our account of our trip to the one and only Kit Kat store in the world. The Sakura Green Tea Kit Kats that we purchased were delightful, the refreshing taste of green tea and the gentle aroma of the sakura cherry blossom combining very nicely with the sweetness of the chocolate. It certainly was great fun visiting the shop, and we hope they’ll add even more delectable flavors to their selection in the future, because really, you can’t have too much good chocolate, can you?
Source: Seibu Ikebukuro Department Store
Top Image: facebook (Kit Kat)
All other photos: RocketNews24