A Curiously Odd Pop-Up Store

By Laura Oppenheimer in Food on Feb 7, 2007 10:00PM

We've heard a bunch about pop-up stores; shops that open up for a week or month, create a lot of buzz and then fade off, but haven't been particularly interested in any of them until we heard about Altoids' new store, set to open tomorrow and close on Valentine's Day.

Altoids Curious and Original Chocolate Shoppe, which will be located at 912 W. Armitage Ave. in Lincoln Park, is billing itself as an anti-Valentine's day shop. According to the release, "For those exhausted by the unrestrained sentimentality of Valentine’s Day, the Altoids Curious and Original Chocolate Shoppe is a haven for the bruised, broken or blackened heart." Us? We just happen to like Altoids.

Available at the temporary "shoppe" are Altoids Dark Chocolate Dipped Mints (mixed verdict on these), free coffee and cupcakes from Angel Food Bakery, anti-Valentine’s Day cards and a variety of other Altoids and V-Day related schwag. We aren't quite sure what is actually going to be for sale, since from what we can tell everything is free. But because the short-lived pop-up store is currently lacking a website, we will have to stop by tomorrow to find out for sure.

Altoids Curious and Original Chocolate Shoppe, 912 W. Armitage Ave.; open every day from noon until 10 p.m.

Update: Chicagoist's sources at Altoids have confirmed that everything in the shoppe is free.