Its engine had a pleasant, stern sound, it sat five people, and it was as angular as a chocolate box.

NEWYORKER: The Maserati Years

With chocolate-box-pretty town squares, hearty Flemish-inspired cuisine and some truly original attractions, the city is an overlooked gem.

BBC: The best French border towns

This is also the land of the deep, dark woods that Little Red Riding Hood skipped through, the land of towers tall enough for Rapunzel, and charming chocolate-box houses to tempt Hansel and Gretel.

BBC: The classic Bavarian road trip

When, in the backwash of the 1929 Wall Street crash, his business (whose employees are all clad in chocolate-box lilac) suffers a downturn, he concocts a plot of murder and insurance fraud that launches him toward the roiling underworld from which prosperity had shielded him.

NEWYORKER: Despair

Cadbury was criticised by the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell after a fairtrade chocolate company redesigned its purple advent box on its lawyers' advice.

BBC: Quiz of the week's news

Ms. McDonald sank all her savings into the development of a chocolate bar and a stylish designer metal box.

WSJ: Stuck With 30,000 Boxes of Gourmet Chocolate

In the search for independent business owners who might have positive thoughts on how big box stores can be countered, I discovered a blog post at Inflow Inventory , an inventory system for small to midsize businesses, about how Virgilio Rubini, owner of ChocoStyle, a small chocolate manufacturer and retail store owner views big box competitors.

FORBES: Google Now May Shift Walmart Vs Local - Top Ways To Support Independent Shops

The cakes (three iced with vanilla frosting and three iced with chocolate, each garnished with a chocolate candy disc) arrived frozen, from Virginia, in an attractive gift box.

WSJ: Testing Mail-Order Cupcakes

In NBC's telling, it's all about Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, about American gymnasts and swimmers, and soon enough about American track stars and, ultimately, about crowning the few who will grace the Wheaties box, who will sell us Subway sandwiches and Gatorade, Nike sneakers and Snickers chocolate bars.

CNN: Americans miss out on the best of the Games