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Moonstruck Chocolate to closes nine cafes |
By Anna Wolfe - 10.24.2008
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PORTLAND, Ore.--Turning its focus to its backyard, Moonstruck Chocolate Co. is closing all nine of its cafes outside of its home turf here.
"This was a difficult decision, but one that was necessary for the overall success of the company," said Dan Hossley, CEO of Moonstruck Chocolate Co., in a prepared statement. "These nine cafes were opened as part of a national retail expansion effort that has proved unsuccessful. Closing them will allow us to better serve our customers through our cafe business here in the Northwest, our B2B business across the country and our online sales."
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The Moonstruck Chocolate Cafes in San Francisco and Walnut Creek, Calif.; Champaign and Oak Brook, Ill.; Natick, Mass.; Clinton Township and Novi, Mich.; Short Hills, N.J.; and McLean, Va., will close by the end of the month. About 90 employees will lose their jobs, the article stated.
The chocolatier's five cafes operating in the surrounding area here are profitable and will remain open, Hossley told the Portland Business Journal.
Instead of operating a national retail chain, Moonstruck will concentrate on its retail stores in its local market and wholesale to retailers nationwide.
"As for wholesale, it means a greater emphasis for us on that distribution channel," Darin Linnman, Moonstruck's spokesperson told Gourmet News. "...The tighter retail focus will really free us up to create the types of products our wholesale customers want to see from us."
During the summer, Moonstruck converted the bulk of it line to all natural. "There are still a few products we are working on, but for the most part our core products --for both wholesale and consumer--are now all-natural," Linnman said.
Future plans include redesigning the company's Web site that will make it easier for consumers to find and purchase products.
Hossley joined Moonstruck as interim CEO late last year. In the August 2007 issue of Gourmet News, Delmar Fuhrman, then Moonstruck CEO, said the chocolatier was on track to have 19 cafes by 2009.
Fuhrman said the company was taking a methodical approach at expanding its store base. "Customers who frequent our cafes are different than those who buy our product at retail stores, so we did demographic research on our customers, whether or not they have a family, their income level, what kind of car they drive and what they listen to," he said in the August 2007 issue. gn
See related stories in Gourmet News' archives:
Chocolatier plans eight mall stores - 08.2007
http://www.gourmetnews.com/index.php?p=article&id=gn200708mAf0PR
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