Pictured, from left, Jeff, Marc and Richard Lazar, owners of Lazar's Chocolate in Great Neck. (Newsday Photo, 2009 / Erica Marcus)
They've gone way beyond Hanukkah gelt at Lazar's. The 34-year-old chocolate shop sells between 500 and 1,000 bags of the gold-foil-covered chocolate coins that are traditional Hanukkah gifts. Also on offer are plastic dreidels and gelt with foil bearing holiday images. The pride of Lazar's Hanukkah line, however, are "wish bars," made from any variety of chocolate (milk, dark, white, nut-filled) with wrappers that are custom-produced on the spot.
Stored on the shop's computer hard drive are thousands of wrapper designs - e.g., holidays, weddings, bar mitzvahs, graduation, showers, birthdays - that can be further customized with any digital photograph. Within minutes, the wrapper is designed, printed, trimmed and wrapped around the bar of your choice: 8 ounces for $12, 16 ounces for $24.
This means you can walk into Lazar's with a CD or flash drive or even a scannable print and walk out five minutes later with a one-of-a-kind chocolate bar.
"This was our best idea in 35 years," said owner Richard Lazar. A third-generation chocolatier - his grandfather David Lazar founded the venerable Manhattan shops Eee-laine Chocolate and Evelyn's - he credits his sons and partners, Jeff and Marc, with developing the wish-bar technology. Lazar's does a brisk business with walk-in wish-bar seekers, but it also accepts orders online at wishbars.com. On the Web site, you can upload your own image files. In an era of increasing mass production, Lazar's business plan is refreshingly old-fashioned. "Our goal," Richard said, "is to sell 1 million bars, one at a time."
Lazar's Chocolate has another location at 340 Wheatley Plaza, Greenvale, 516-484-1987.
