Hotel Chocolat opens flagship store at Manchester Arndale

Manchester Arndale continues to see strong demand from retailers as it announced Hotel Chocolat has opened one of its largest stores on Cross Street.

The chocolatier’s new flagship store in the city centre retail destination opened this week after it signed a 10-year lease to occupy the 7,288 sq ft unit.

Hotel Chocolat began life in 2003 as a boutique chocolate shop and has since expanded its portfolio to 126 stores across the world with flagship sites in London, Tokyo and New York. As well as retail outlets, the brand has diversified by opening cafés as well as launching cookbooks, coffee lines and experiences such as the School of Chocolate Vaults in Covent Garden.

The new Hotel Chocolat at Manchester Arndale includes a café space alongside its range of ethically sourced chocolate bars, hot drinks and gifts.  

This latest letting adds to Manchester Arndale’s strong food and beverage line up on Cross Street which also includes Vietnamese Street food provider HOP Vietnamese. These exciting brands add to Manchester Arndale’s unique mixture of café, grab and go, and restaurant providers, ensuring its visitors have a diverse choice of refreshment options.

Scott Linard, Portfolio Manager for M&G Real Estate, said: “At Manchester Arndale we pride ourselves on offering a varied F&B mix as we want to provide customers with a vibrant lineup of refreshing drinks and delicious food. It is also great to see another established brand select Manchester Arndale for one of its flagship stores. This investment by Hotel Chocolat in Manchester Arndale is further evidence of established brands having confidence in the centre as they look to capitalise on our wide catchment area which brings in visitors from across the North West.”

Steve Gray, Head of European Retail Asset Management at Global Mutual, added: “Hotel Chocolat is an impressive brand which has taken chocolate in bold directions. We are proud to have cultivated a diverse tenant line-up at Manchester Arndale and are equally excited to add a flagship Hotel Chocolat store to this mix. Establishing relationships with established brands demonstrates that Manchester Arndale continues to be an attractive destination for big retail names and ensures we remain the North West’s premier retail destination.”