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Godiva Chocolates to close all 128 North American stores due to Covid pandemic
- hawktheslayer 6y agoI used to stop in at the Godiva store in the mall nearby--mainly went there for gifts and the occasional overpriced drinking cocoa on a date. Personally my chocolate consuming habits shifted to buying bars at stores like Whole Foods. I hate seeing stores that offer something unique close, especially local coffee roasters with a cool vibe, but just don't get too sad about chains like Godiva shifting to online only.
- eganist 6y agoHow is this article only four sentences long? USA Today gave it better treatment with added context for those curious as to some of the bets Godiva took in the year before the pandemic that increased their economic exposure to the pandemic. That being said, it's also clear that Godiva itself isn't closing. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2021/01/22/store-closures-2021-godiva-boutiques-cafes-coronavirus/6673121002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2021/01/22/sto...
- lioeters 6y agoThanks, the context was informative. > The store closings come less than two years after Godiva announced a large expansion plan in April 2019 to open 2,000 cafes around the world in six years.
- jarym 6y agoGodiva tried to expand too fast in my view and the quality of the chocolate is mediocre (compared to other Belgian chocolate) and priced too high. Starbucks made a similar mistake around the 2007 financial crash but seem to have recovered so it’s not a total dead end for Godiva yet...
- luxurytent 6y agoFor reference, Starbucks is closing 300 stores in Canada https://www.cbc.ca/news/starbucks-closures-1.5871231 https://www.cbc.ca/news/starbucks-closures-1.5871231
- ghaff 6y agoThere's a Starbucks near a dead-ish mall near me. Whenever I drive by there is a line of about 20 cars whose drivers apparently need their fix. I do not understand.
- paulryanrogers 6y agoHabits, brands as personal identity, social signaling are all powerful
- jankeymeulen 6y agoGodiva hadn't been belgian for over a decade. For something I - as a belgian - would consider and is available worldwide, I'd go with Neuhaus.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago> Godiva tried to expand too fast in my view and the quality of the chocolate is mediocre (compared to other Belgian chocolate) and priced too high. I’ve seen it play out so many times, I assume it’s a conscious strategy choice. Build up brand value, and then exchange it for cash by cutting costs while still selling under previous reputation.
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- zxcvbn4038 6y agoGodiva used to have an awesome loyalty program, when they ended that I figured it was the writing on the wall. The quality of the chocolates declined around the same time. Same thing with Starbucks - it used to have the most awesome loyalty program and anywhere you went the baristas were the greatest people. But they were never the same after their financial crunch in the early 2000s. Today I get crates of Mr Brown and UCC from Amazon.
- myWindoonn 6y agoI'm not going to flag this post, because I believe that it is a teachable moment. What about this post is at all on-topic? It is a TV news station's blogpost, fitting cleanly into the off-topic guidelines. This is not the first such post from this account, either; they have a history of off-topic submissions. Why?
- easyas101110110 6y agoAwwh. They should at least keep the tourist location in SF. Many moons ago, it was a decent shop.