Godiva closing down all its stores in North America

How many stores did they have? I like Sees better, anyway.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

So, they'll still sell online?

See's is better, trust me.

😭

I'm devastated. NOT.

Available at food and drug stores.... remember when it was only available at Neiman Marcus?

See’s is not better, unless you like one note sweetness and American-grade chocolate. Godiva stores were a nice mini-luxury that I will miss.

I don’t know how they lasted this long.

Good thing I can get it at Dollar Tree now!

Miss R8 has put her pump down.

Godiva > Sees by a mile.

See’s Candies’ chocolate butterchews beat Godiva anything

See's has great peanut brittle (probably the best in the country), but their chocolate is not as good.

Jealous, bitches?

I tried See's chocolates a couple of years ago, after reading the Datalounge raves, and found them to be perfectly ordinary. I haven't eaten anything from Godiva in a longer time than that, but I remember liking them more than I liked See's.

It's fucking chocolate, get over yourselves.

.....

As long as they don’t close by Dippin Dots!

Not at all, r15.

fuck yall cunts

R17 can't set a proper table either.

Hershey 's tastes like chocolate, sometimes.

R23 I like Hershey’s but not when it comes out of my hookups...

I have never once felt compelled to go in a Godiva. Good chocolate is so readily available in grocery stores, I never understood the point.

[quote]Good chocolate is so readily available in grocery stores

Not in the United States, it isn't.

R26 that’s right. In America we don’t eat chocolate to enjoy it, we eat it to get fat!

Godiva tastes waxy with no taste . I prefer Sees as well. I like Neuhaus and Maison Du Chocolat for European store bought. Funny, I do like my Sees over all the Sablon Brussels chocolate shops.

It’s funny to watch once luxury brands go downmarket then die.

Peterbrooke in N. Fl is worlds better than Godiva. Hella expensive too.

Godiva, like a lot of businesses that have been bought and sold a few times, is past its prime. Besides this, they got out of the brick and mortar business before—just a few years ago.

I worked at Neuhaus at NorthPark in Dallas for an afternoon and walked out at the end of my shift.

The owner was a very mean man.

Their products will still be available in other stores and online, so this isn't a big deal.

While I never buy Godiva for myself but often buy them as gifts. People love them. There was one in Grand Central Terminal in NY that is now gone. I bet the ones on 7th Avenue, by Herald Square Macy's and on Lexington have closed too.

[quote]The owner was a very mean man.

King Leopold didn't exactly coddle the Congo.

Littlejohn's in SF and LA is also really good. Their toffee and bark, OMFG.

Godiva quality was devalued during the various sales. It is Belgian in marketing name only.

[quote] I worked at Neuhaus at NorthPark in Dallas for an afternoon and walked out at the end of my shift.

This you, R32?

If there was a Godiva vs. Sees cage death match, I have to admit I'd choose Sees.

But I'm actually surprised, you'd think the chocolate market would have been booming during the last year.

Godiva is both overpriced and overrated. Give me a box of Russell Stover and call it a day.

R29 that’s true. I remember when Godiva was really the shit. Then brands like Neuhaus and Maison de Chocolate made Godiva seem much more mid-market in comparison (still better than shit like Sees, Russell Stover, and Ferraro Rocher however).

I still really like it though — I think as far as stuffed white chocolate flavors go (no, I’m not into dark chocolate, which I know is “so unsophisticated”), they were still the best. It was always a reliable place to get a couple little things to hold you over at the mall. So I’m sad.

[quote]See's is better, trust me.

FAR better, and less expensive to boot.

[quote] Give me a box of Russell Stover and call it a day.

How many times have I said THAT very phrase after dinner?

Gross, r40.

I like the Godiva packaging (gold). You can still buy some Godiva products at Macy's.

Godiva is gross! How vulgar.

If you want good chocolate head to Southern California and buy from independent stores.

Once upon a time, Godiva chocolates were made in Europe and imported as a luxury item to the US. Then the brand was bought by Hersheys and it became nothing more than expensive Hershey bars. It's a brand name that has retained a persona of luxury, but really offers products that are no better than average. You can buy significantly better chocolate in most American grocery stores -they carry many European brands that are quite good.

I prefer Sees as well.

But what I really like are Glacier, Jacques Torres, Li-Lac, Neuhause, and La Maison du chocolate

As a Swiss, I prefer Toblerone.

Whitman's chocolate is the best.

In the early seventies there was a big selection at a high end dept store in Montgomery mall in Potomac MD where I lived as a kid. My mon would let us pick out some for the big gold boxes in December and my brothers and I got one each after dinner...I agree the quality went down and years ago the had valentines big boxes at Walmart (I was skiing in ID and there isn’t a lot of stores to shop.) if you are in Seattle Frans is superior to both Godiva and Sees and the Obamas get it mail order after discovering it on the campaign trail. It is real Belgian high end.

These days I just order chocolates from Fortnum and Mason in London and have it delivered.

Godiva to 'shut down'.

So why not say 'to shut', rather than 'shuttered'?

All the fat whores are in mourning

r47 Hershey's never had anything to do with Godiva. It was owned for decades by Campbell's Soup. In 2007 it was sold to its present owners, a Turkish company.

You poor, poor bitches and your low rent candy.

Now, the rest of you know how it felt to lose Fannie May. You can pretend one chocolate is better than another, but you always remember your first.

I'm not surprised at all.

See’s all the way for me! It knows its place and doesn’t try to act all uppity like Godiva does. Godiva is nothing more than a mall chocolate store (like See’s) with overpriced crap that you could buy at any downmarket Macy’s. Plus See’s is generous with the free samples.

My friend was in a play with Derek Jacobi, and some backstage visitor brought him an ENORMOUS, multi tiered box of assorted Godiva chocolates. Probably not wanting to die of a clogged artery during the run of a show, he gave it to my friend.

As a working actress she wasn’t about to down about 15 lbs. of chocolate, so she sampled a few then quickly gave them to me. I was young and slim, and worked through them over the course of a week.

Such are my brushes with greatness.

R60, there is a gay game of “Six Degrees Of Derek Jacobi” and you made it and that’s cool.

Oh well, I prefer M&Ms anyway.

Is Norman Love still around? I remember liking his shop in FL near the Ft Myers/ Naples airport, but it's been many years. I prefer to shop local versus Godiva, but it does make me sad to see something once so successful start to fold.

I used to work for a choclatier in Napa; we co-maned for may luxury brands. Often times chocolate was handpicked at first, Hershey went through a phase where they started buying up small chocolatiers one by one and converting them from cocoa butter to palm oil. That's why Hershey chocolates have that faint scent of vomit, and if you don't believe me, go smell one. We would stop producing from them when they went the cheap route. The saddest buy out was Scharffen Burger which now tastes of Hershey. Though it's been over a decade, I am still very spoiled when it comes to chocolate and prefer to buy chef blocks online then melt and temper my own stead of buying the bars. My favorite chocolate was Guittard 48% they did a limited run of. God, it was so good.

It used to be very exclusive and sold at high end stores only then they full corporate & opened stores in every major mall in America next to Hot Topics and Wet Seals and it lost its cache.

r4 See's tastes like middle America. Very low quality chocolate, and while I understand rustic appeal, See's chocolates look like little cat turds.

R40: Russell Stover is utter crap.

Godiva used to get most of its sales from upper middle brow department stores.

Also, both Sees and Godiva co-man with several factories, so your enjoyment is going to be depending on the individual chocolate type and which facility produced it. It's very possible to get the same chocolate at both shops. You can get to know the brands after a while; almost all of them are Cargill but the good ones use Callebaut, mid to upper teir also includes Blommer. You'll find all three at both shops, and they'll usually be priced and marketed accordingly.

Godiva tastes like wax. The best chocolate is always going to come from small artisanal brands.

R63 Yes, there are still Norman Love chocolates in FL! Other nice fancy/ niche chocolates: out of Oregon is Moonstruck, Mariebelle in NYC, and Hedonist in Rochester NY has the best dark chocolate, IMO. R64 I didn't realize Scharffen Burger was bought out by Hershey. That sucks.

R64, what luxury brand do you consider high quality?

There are so many better independently owned chocolatierias in almost every city. Why buy chain crap?

I had some once. I was expecting a sort of otherworldly experience. Maybe my palate is just unrefined, but it tasted similar to Hershey's.

In the 70s Godiva had a store on 5th Avenue and was sold no where else in the city. It was considered very upscale way back then.

BTW: It's a Turkish owned company now.

I'm not a connoisseur, but I can tell you I always thought Godiva was overrated.

I desperately want to try See's though. My #1 Cher worked there in the 1960s, and she loves it. So, if it's good enough for her, it's definitely good enough for me.

[quote] I tried See's chocolates a couple of years ago, after reading the Datalounge raves, and found them to be perfectly ordinary

Ugh, I bought some, too based on Datalounge raves. I found some of them to be so awful I spit them out & tossed them. That divinity crap tastes like something fraus in flyoverstan would orgasm over, like they do with that crappy ambrosia slosh.

R64 Love Guittard – their 70% cacao for baking, specifically. Looks like they have a 45% "Soleil"now which may be similar to the one you liked.

May I add that the chocolate I have purchased at outlet stores has sucked regardless of brand because it is old. I won’t try several brands because Filene’s sold me brown chalk.

I'm a Lindt man, and you can buy Lindt in grocery stores in Oregon..

Anyone remember Brachs chocolates? They always tasted stale. I think they mostly make jelly beans & candy corn now.

I remember Lofts was a chocolate store years ago but can’t remember what the chocolate tasted like.

Ritter, a German brand, makes a decent mid-level bar you can get at many grocery stores in the Northeast.

[R70] At least one of those uses Callebaut, interesting story about them I can't really tell you but they are delicious.

[R71] I'd say Guittard, Ritter, Hammond's if you like novelty flavors; more widely available, Cost Plus World Market has a good line. R70 had a good list. Our in house brand was Le Belge and was always made with the best but they're really about the truffles. Look more for collections than brands, always avoid palm oil. A limited run collection will usually be made with specially picked chocolate while the standard run will be from one of the three suppliers mentioned. The best thing about it is even you end up with Cargill it's still delicious. Packaging is also a good give away; the carton or cardboard box usually has more expensive chocolate although it's not always the case. That's bars though. With truffles, anything goes. If you want chocolate for a fondue party or for baking at home buy direct from a baker supply store, they all have Callebaut there, Blommer if you're cheap.

I could talk about chocolate all day.

You can find perfectly good chocolate at Aldi’s.

Fun fact: Laurence Guittard from the original cast of "A Little Night Music" is of the Guittard family of chocolatiers.

Godiva is mass produced and nothing special at all. The company does not need stores. They can sell it at Walmart.

Both See's and Godiva are not that great. Some, but not all, of the chocolate sold by Aldi's is good -- much less sweet than typical US brands. Neuhaus is good Belgian chocolate (10x better than Godiva). One regional brand I really like is Esther Price made in Dayton, OH (of all places). You can order it online.

More jobs lost.

We will hit peak cocoa. The population is still exploding and the resources are shrinking. Every time an oppressed child makes a shoe, the chances that individual will purchase chocolate goes up. It’s math or something.

The only really good chocolate in America is from La Maison du Chocolate.

But it costs a fortune.

Girls, Girls, you are both chocolate Cunts.

Godiva had better chocolate shells, See's had better tasting fillings.

Fun Fact: Milk Chocolate was invented in America only to cut the cost of actual chocolate so it could be sold the the masses. Lots of milk and some wax for shiny mold release.

Turkey's economy is particularly bad. Turkish owner.

NOOOOO WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK I HATE MY LIFE BAD THINGS JUST WON'T STOP HAPPENING TO ME

[quote]and it lost its cache.

Oh, dear.

i liked Godiva chocolates. Last time i had them was probably 5 or 6 years ago. When were they bought out by the Turkish? I tried See's once. It was ok, like a step above Russell Stover. Trader Joe's has pretty good belgian chocolate.

the best is Andre's Confiserie Suisse in Kansas City.!

Austrian chocolate doesn't get its due. Mozartkugeln, Schoegotten, and this one are all quite good.

R96, nothing that is 'the best' can be found in Kansas City.

Teuscher is the best. When you're in Rockefeller Center, treat yourself to a few champagne truffles.

I hope this doesn’t happen to See’s. There’s one close to me that my family has gone to for years and years. It would be sad to see that go.

If your Grand Tour includes Schenectady, you must stop at Uncle Sam's for the finest chocolate Schenectady has to offer.

R64 and other replies. Thank you for your knowledge. As you said, "i can talk about chocolate all day", I could listen to you talk about it. Chocolate is a precious food and sadly it's been "abused" by the likes of Hershey and other mass producing confectioners.

Their chocolate is OK but not special enough to have stores.

[quote]Oregon is Moonstruck

I find Moonstruck to be tasteless, I won't waste the calories on it.

My favorite is Trader Joe's 100 calorie chocolate bars. I love the dark chocolate, I think it has a lot of flavor.

I thought Godiva has been owned by Campbells for many years. The best milk chocolate NUT BARK is Jacque Torres in NYC. It's expensive but EXCELLENT. His other stuff is just ok.

I liked Godiva. There's a tiny chocolate store in Beverly Hills called Edelweiss that has the best milk chocolate I've ever tasted, it will probably be closed too before I can get back! One of the sad things about the pandemic is that the stores that were barely hanging on pre-covid will go whether chain or mom and pop and our 'high street' will just be banks and Starbucks. I get that you can argue we don't 'need' chocolate stores or electronic stores or record shops because they are all easy to buy online but it does make the future of cities and malls kinda bleak.

r104, see r55

[quote] I find Moonstruck to be tasteless

Fuck you, R103.

I got hooked on Venchi Chocolates when I was in Italy I was happy when they opened a store in NYC especially during the ongoing pandemic.

Try Choceur chocolate, guys. Available at Aldi, I think. Made in Germany.

Wrong R26. Grocery stores sell excellent chocolate now. A lot of "boutique" and organic fair trade dark, dark chocolate which I love.

I love See's sour candies and their various toffees, and the rest is fine but not spectacular. I'll keep buying both See's and Godiva online and just hope they don't close down for good.

Whole Foods sells some excellent artisan chocolates.

Has anyone else ever had Wockenfuss? They are a MD chain of candy shops...their almond bark (both milk and dark) is fantastic.

I like Godiva. Cheap but I love those Ferrer Roche hazelnut things. I can eat an entire small box in one sitting.

Yes I'm a sucker for more artisanal brands of chocolate. Maybe $7/bar is my top limit. White chocolate, milk chocolate, yeeeech.

As someone who moved to the US I am often bemused at those of you who claim things like US supermarkets don't stock good chocolate or US supermarkets don't have good fresh produce. It's like where do you live? I still take videos in US supermarkets to show my sister how much variety there is.

Agree with Ester Price and Aldi brand. Also Venchi and Les Chocolats de Pauline, though generally not available in the US

A lot of people don't live near an actual supermarket r116, they rely on bodegas or small corner shops, especially if they don't have reliable transportation.

As someone who lived in the Midwest for decades, I can tell you we didn't get decent chocolate until very recently, and it's still mostly Theo brand or Endangered Species brand, nothing truly great. Sure, we have 900 varieties of Hershey's Kisses, but that variety doesn't translate to quality.

Godiva hasn’t been great chocolate for years.

Neuhaus is where it’s at for Belgian Import chocolate

Newman's Own chocolate bars are good. My favorite would be the espresso bar, even though I don't like flavored chocolates. Harder to find Newman's Own, though.

Call me a baby-tastes American, but I prefer milk chocolate to dark, which tastes sour to me. Is all the fancy chocolate dark? I do like Ritter but would love to expand my choices.

R121, I like milk chocolate as well. I like dark chocolate, but not the super-intense type. I don't consider myself a baby-taster. I eat spicy foods, raw seafood, etc.

Toblerone is the best.

If you like Austrian chocolate, r97, you probably like hazelnut, because most Austrian chocolate contains it (Milka is a prime example -- even the "plain" milk chocolate version contains some hazelnut).

And if you like hazelnuts, here's an Austrian specialty you should love, if you can get your hands on it.

I heard Lindt is a better quality brand than Godiva.

I like Lindt, but it's very soft. There's no snap to it. Godiva does have a snap.

I LOVE ildefonso, R124.

Fat whores, despair. From now on you have to feed on Hershey's, which tastes like rancid machine oil.

It’s been some years since I had them, but Godiva creme brûlées were so good...

Fat AMERICAN whores, despair. From now on you have to feast on Hershey's, which tastes like rancid machine oil.

Of the mass-produced variety, I like Dove.

For upscale, I go to local makers.

Seattle has Theo, R131, with a Ginger dark chocolate bar. No Hershey’s vomit kick.

I can't muster even one minuscule tear, because Godiva is waxy and overpriced for what you get. Leonidas costs about the same and is superior. Years ago, there used to be a Leonidas kiosk at the local mall and it was hard to pass it by. They're primarily online now.

Most of the selection at See's Candies are sickeningly sweet. But their version of milk chocolate turtles ("pecan buds") is AWESOME.

The Hershey's Symphony (toffee bits & nuts) is very good, IMO. For some reason, better than the other Hershey bars. Try it sometime.

R103 Everyone has their preferences, of course. I typically went with dark so it had more flavor. They used to make very cute shapes (ice cream cones, mice, etc,) so they made for nice gifts (and most people I know prefer milk to dark anyway.)

R134 I was just thinking about this. Symphony USED to be really good when it first appeared on the market. I hadn’t had one in years, then a couple years ago I bought one and I thought I tasted like a crappy regular Hershey’s bar. I know, taste is subjective and all.

Godiva tastes so generic at this point

Hersheys tastes like wax,

Does anyone remember ca. 1986 Hershey's Golden Bar? It was a thick milk chocolate bar with almonds wrapped in gold foil. It was good.

Godiva has been crap for decades. American are suckers. Cheap Swiss, Belgian, and even German supermarket chocolate tastes better than Godiva. And then it improves through the price points.