RIGBY — After growing up making hand-dipped chocolates with her parents, Karen Isaacson took the plunge seven months ago to open up Pandora's Chocolate in Rigby.

"The spot opened up — we actually hadn't planned on doing this — but I was making chocolates out of my home and this spot came open and we just decided to jump into it," Isaacson said. "It's a little crazy."

Since opening, Isaacson said the community has been great and extremely supportive of Pandora's. She stated that while it's been a big learning process, she loves interacting with customers and meeting all the people that visit her shop.

Isaacson and her husband, Len, previously had a chocolate shop in Montana with her parents about 25 years ago. Chocolates are a family affair and Isaacson says that when she was younger, her family spent every Christmas dipping chocolates.

Now at Pandora’s, she works with Len and her son, Sam. Len operates All Things Idaho LLC out of Pandora’s Chocolate, which brings in other local businesses to sell their products. Sam works making all the centers and fillings for the candies.

Isaacson said that although running a family business can be “crazy busy,” it’s great that they get to spend a lot of time together.

"Actually, arranging things in the store has been probably the trickiest part," Isaacson said. "We move things around a lot trying to find just the right spot."

With a positive response from the community, Isaacson said she loves creating the hand-dipped chocolate flavors, of which there are almost 60.

"Our latest flavor is honey butter, which is my very favorite, but that was a fun one to develop," she said. "The oddest thing can trigger an idea, and then you just go from there and think about what will give that the most authentic taste you can."

The name Pandora's Chocolate came from a brainstorming session where Isaacson said they fell in love with the tagline, "Go ahead. Open the box."

"We couldn't resist that and we liked the magical sound that Pandora's has," Isaacson said.

As they head into their first Christmas season, Isaacson said customers can expect not only yummy chocolates, but also products from approximately 30 Idaho vendors in the colorfully decorated, vintage-themed store.

"I want (customers) to walk out the door feeling happy," she stated. "Whether they buy one piece of chocolate or whether they don't buy anything at all, I just want them to feel glad they were here.”

Pandora’s Chocolate is located at 127 W. Main St. in Rigby. The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, visit facebook.com/goahead.openthebox.