Hotel Chocolat is to open its first Dublin city centre store at 1 GPO Buildings on Henry Street.
The UK retailer opened its first store in London in 2004 and now has more than 100 outlets across the UK, Denmark and Hong Kong. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of £400 million (€443 million). Annual revenues are in the region of £115 million.
Uniquely, the trader owns its own cocoa plantation in the Caribbean and also operates the notable School of Chocolate at Covent Garden in London.
The new Dublin store will extend to 170sq m (1,830sq ft), including a ground floor area of 60sq m (645sq ft). A rent of €170,000 has been agreed between Colliers UK, which represented Hotel Chocolat, and Mervyn Ellis of BNP Paribas Real Estate, who is advising the landlords.
Ellis described Hotel Chocolat as “a premium brand” and said it was one of many new brands expected to open in Dublin city centre in the near future.
