The walk is sponsored by the Mullica Hill Business Association and will include 24 Main Street businesses.
The Mullica Hill Business Association (MHBA) will host its annual chocolate walk along Main Street from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
The walk includes 24 participating businesses that will each offer their own take on chocolate and the hoiday to help grow their businesses. There will also be additional food and photo opportunities. Among the event’s hosts are George Murphy, president of the MHBA and owner of Time Fine men’s store.
“We look at it as a meet and greet for residents,” he said. “It started out as something small with only a few participating businesses and a couple hundred people. Now we have 24 businesses taking part and we sell out in advance. This is my third year participating. I wanted people to be aware of my business and the chocolate walk will always be special to me.”
The MHBA expects more than 400 people for this year’s event. Tickets that will identify each participating business are available online at ticketleap.com. Forty extra tickets will be available on the day of the event at an extra $5.
To maintain capacity at stores, chocolate walk tickets will have check-in times set for 4, 5 or 6 p.m., with 125 tickets available for each of the three. Shops will also help Main Street businesses build connections with Mullica Hill residents.
“The stores will have things that evoke the feeling of Valentine’s Day,” Murphy said. “I use it to plant the seeds for people to visit my store. It’s been becoming more and more of a shopping event as the years go by. It’s a great time for people to come in after business hours, since most stores close around 5.”
The Christmas lights that can be seen along Main Street during the holiday will be up during the walk, a decision made by the township to benefit participating merchants.
“They remembered to leave them up for that and I’m thankful for that,” Murphy noted. “To be able to see the lights at night, it’s breathtaking.”
