Chocolatier Godiva will close its 128 stores and cafes in North America by the end of March, the company announced Sunday, citing a decline in demand for personal shopping during the pandemic.
Godiva’s delicacies will continue to be available online and within partnerships and grocery stores across the continent, the company said. It will maintain in-store operations in Europe, the Middle East and Greater China.
“We have always been focused on what our consumers need and how they want our brand to experience, which is why we made this decision,” CEO Nurtac Afridi said in a statement.
The Belgian chocolate manufacturer has not announced the number of employees that will be affected by the North American decision.
“They lost between half of their business done by tourists, and the other 25 percent of the business done as a result of a special occasion, and a further 25 percent done on impulse,” Marshal said. Cohen, retail analyst at the NPD group market research firm, told NBC News. ‘Where does the business come from? Everything switched online with great ease. ”
“If we do not have as good social traffic as we did and we do not have special occasions and special occasions, it will affect the business to some extent,” he said.
Godiva is one of the hundreds of thousands of store closures that have come amid a huge decline in personal shopping during the pandemic.
Other retailers announcing store closures since March include Macy’s, JCPenney, Bed Bath & Beyond, Victoria’s Secret, Francesca’s, Zara, Express and more.
Many retailers, including Godiva, have focused on using their digital footprint to reach customers successfully.
“Online has jumped three years forward,” Cohen said. “Consumers have clearly taught themselves how to buy basically anything, anywhere, anytime, at any price.”
According to Adobe Analytics, online shopping fetched nearly $ 200 billion during the holiday shopping season alone.
Chocolate sales have also been rising since the pandemic. In 2020, Americans spent nearly $ 15 billion on chocolate, an increase of 5 percent since 2019, while Canadians spent a little over $ 2 billion, a jump of 7 percent.