Customers shop for chocolate Tuesday at Ethel's Chocolate Lounge, which celebrates its grand opening today at the Fashion Show mall. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

If you've stopped by the Ethel M Chocolates store inside the Fashion Show mall in the last week, then you've spotted some major changes.

No, chocoholics, this isn't your father's Ethel M store.

The shelves laden with Satin Cremes and liquor-filled confections are gone, the space transformed instead into a 1,200-square-foot, pink-and-brown cocoa heaven that John Haugh, president of Ethel M parent company Mars Retail Group, refers to as "a chocolate womb."

Meet Ethel's Chocolate Lounge, a new concept from Henderson-based Mars Retail Group, a division of Virginia food giant Mars Inc.

Ethel's, which had a soft opening last week and celebrates its grand opening today, is Mars' bid to add chocolate to the ranks of routine consumer goods -- coffee, water, bread, cheese -- going upscale. The trend is called "trading up," and it gives average consumers the opportunity to enjoy small bits of luxury in their everyday lives. With Ethel's, Mars officials say they hope candy lovers will stop in at the lounge and stay a while for regular, small-scale chocolate fixes, rather than limiting their confectionery indulgences to holidays and special occasions two or three times a year.

In 2005, Mars began rolling out 10 Ethel's Chocolate Lounges in the Chicago area, where Middle-America tastes provided an ideal test market.

Its Fashion Show outpost is the lounge's 11th location, and its first outside Chicagoland.

Haugh said a blend of hometown pride, dynamic growth and opportunities to test-market to both locals and tourists clinched Mars' decision to bring Ethel's to Las Vegas.

"Las Vegas is a melting pot, and though it certainly has a more West Coast feeling than a place like Chicago, we still get a good cross section of what goes on in the world," Haugh said. "It will be a good learning experience for us."

And because the factory where Ethel's Chocolates are made is just nine miles east of the Strip in Henderson, the company's Fashion Show store will confer on Mars major advantages over its Chicago shops in terms of product-testing.

"We could run a new product over to the store, and 15 minutes later drive to the mall and see how it's working," Haugh said. "It's like having a laboratory really close by."

Ethel's has been cooking up treats that differ markedly from Ethel M's more traditional line of candies.

Truffle flavors from Ethel's include espresso, honey and piña colada. The company's Cocktail Collection features candies with essences of rum, brandy and champagne. The American Pop Collection has tastes of peanut butter and jelly and apple pie. Chefs at Ethel's are also readying their fall seasonal collection, with its pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cranberry and eggnog creations.

Candies from Ethel's are a little pricier than their Ethel M counterparts: A 1-pound, 1-ounce box of Ethel M Creamy Milk Chocolates with up to 40 pieces costs $29, while a 24-piece collection of Ethel's Chocolates retails online and in Ethel's stores for $24.

Inside Ethel's Chocolate Lounge, where chocolate cookbooks, posters and sofas encourage lingering, sweets lovers can order up 10 chocolates and hot cocoa for two for $18. Chocolate fondue for two, with strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, graham crackers or pound cake for dipping, costs $18 to $25 depending on the number of accompaniments.

George Connor, a senior vice president specializing in resort retail for Colliers International, said the Fashion Show's mix of shoppers bodes well for the success of Ethel's.

The Fashion Show's client base is about 60 percent tourists, Connor said. But thanks to its five department-store anchors, the Fashion Show is also more popular with locals than many other shopping centers on the Strip.

"It's a very strong platform to conduct test marketing that would address both crowds," Connor said. "With the tourist market, you're basically testing the demographics of the entire United States. If (Mars) can do an exit survey or registration as consumers make purchases, they can get a really clear sense from demographics in different parts of the country. It's an excellent strategy to accomplish multiple tasks with a single location."

Ethel's has its competitors in the local gourmet-chocolate market, including Vosges Haut-Chocolat at the Forum Shops inside Caesars Palace and Jean-Philippe Patisserie at Bellagio.

But Ethel's has more accessible price points -- nine truffles from Vosges Haut, for example, cost $25 -- and other Las Vegas chocolatiers lack the sit-down space and fondue menu that Ethel's has.

More important, say retail experts, is the company's well-known name.

Connor, who handled the deal that placed Ethel M at the Showcase next to the MGM Grand, said the company's trademark will entice patrons into the new venture.

"People would go into Ethel M (at the Showcase) for the experience, with no idea what they would buy," he said. "Branding is very important. People recognize the Ethel M brand, and the brand name by itself will engage enough people who want to see what (Ethel's Chocolate Lounge) is."

Mars' 10 remaining Ethel M stores across Southern Nevada have retained that brand and its retail lineup.

Haugh said Mars is preparing to ramp up production of its candies for the holiday season, so the company isn't likely to open more new Ethel's Chocolate Lounges before the end of 2006. The company will continue to scout for new Ethel's markets nationwide after the first of the year, he said.