Godiva Closing All U.S. Locations Including the Three in CT

Godiva has announced it will sell or close all of its retail locations in the United States and three of them are right here in Connecticut. The CT locations are in Uncasville , Farmington and Stamford. The national closures will be completed by March, but the company will not be going away altogether.

CNN Business says the international brick and mortar stores in Europe, China and the Middle East will stay open and online business will continue as well. It's a 180 degree pivot from their café plan, which was introduced in 2019.

The company had planned to open 2,000 Godiva cafes globally. Some of the cafes were opened in major cities but the plan did not work with decreased mall traffic in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis.

The chocolate company hinted at the move away from physical locations and towards digital sales in a December 2020 press release. In the release, company CEO Nurtac Ziyal Afridi had this to say about the companies plan for growth in 2021:

"We continue to be very focused on leveraging digital technology to anticipate the needs of consumers, exceed expectations and make GODIVA the most top-of-mind premium chocolate brand."

The lesson here is read your companies press releases, especially in retail because if they send one out that uses the word digital a lot and makes no mention of stores, the end is near.

The Uncasville Godiva is inside the Mohegan Sun complex, The Farmington store is in the Westfarms Mall and the Stamford Godiva shop is located at 100 Greyrock place.