CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The Happy Cook, Charlottesville’s specialty kitchen store, is celebrating its 20th year under Monique Moshier’s ownership.

Moshier’s time at The Happy Cook dates back to 2002, but she hasn’t always been the boss.

“I always loved to cook,” Moshier told Cville Right Now. “I found a part-time job at The Happy Cook partially just to get a good employee discount, but quickly found a deeper passion for the store.”

Once Tammy Van Cleef was ready to move on from owning the store in 2005, she passed the ownership on to Moshier.

For Moshier, running a small business is in her DNA. Her parents owned a bookstore in Riverside, California when she was growing up and that taught her the ins and outs of managing the business.

“Having a little background in business ownership mixed with a love for cooking made the decision to take over The Happy Cook an easy one,” she said.

But keeping a business up and running for 20 years is no easy feat. Moshier had to find a way to keep her stamina.

“There have been a lot of outside forces that should have made things difficult,” she said. “But there’s also been a fair amount of purposeful change that we’ve done. We’ve evolved over time.”

When Moshier first took over the store it was considered more of a “hobby shop” but she had bigger, broader plans for it.

“I really wanted The Happy Cook to be a place for anybody who loves to cook, professionally and as a hobby,” she said. “I wanted them to be able to come here be able to talk to other people who are well educated about the subject, and find what they’re looking for.”

For Moshier, creating a more robust selection was a top priority. To maintain her goals for the store, she knew she had to have a bigger space.

In 2009, The Happy Cook crossed the street in Barracks Road Shopping Center from a 1,200-square foot shop to 4,000-square foot store where they are still located today.

“The move allowed us the space we needed to really execute my plans for the store,” said Moshier. “That was when my vision for the happy cook really came alive.”

The move allowed Moshier to open a permanent place for cooking classes, which she said boosted the community engagement for their store.

Listening to their customers has kept The Happy Cook such an important facet of the Charlottesville community.

“We’re here for the Charlottesville community and we have really good relationships with our customers,” said Moshier. “We want to know what they want and if they’re not finding and will bring it in.”

The Happy Cook offers a welcoming environment and customers say they’ve taken notice.

“Their staff really is wonderful and they help you find things you didn’t even know you were looking for,” long time Charlottesville resident and longtime customer Lucie Garrett told Cville Right Now. “The personal service when you have a small business like that makes it so we aren’t just customers, we become friends too.”

While The Happy Cook has seen many changes since its opening in 1978, many of them have come during Moshier’s 20 years of ownership.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, The Happy Cook wasted no time when getting their cooking classes to stream to the customers stuck at home. They were able to launch online classes early on in the pandemic. That got the store a mention in a Forbes article.

The adaptability is what Moshier credits for keeping the business alive.

“Being able to adapt and take suggestions has saved us,” she said. “That “let’s see what happens” mindset has served us well and I think it’s why we’ve been successful over the years even in changing environments.”

Being open to changes and suggestions creates a better customer experience, as well, Garrett said.

“Monique has made it very personal,” said Garrett. “In this age of digital shopping, The Happy Cook is an antidote to that sort of two-dimensional computer world and she makes the experience feel very human.”

For the future of The Happy Cook, things will continue to change but that’s not stopping Moshier.

“In the last 20 years I have had a lot of things that I’ve done but it still feels like this business is still ever changing,” she said. “I’m kind of just ready for the next adventure on the horizon.”