Hotel Chocolat, the British chocolatier that staked its turf in Chicago last year after being acquired by candy giant Mars, is going cacao coast-to-coast.
This fall, Hotel Chocolat will pop up at 49 airports, hit the shelves at Wegmans, H-E-B and Kroger supermarkets, and open new stores in Virginia, Utah and California, offering chocoholics nationwide a taste of its distinctive retail experience.
“We’re going to dip our toe into retail partner activation, get some learnings,” said Kelly Goering, a veteran Mars executive and inaugural general manager of Hotel Chocolat US. “That’s part of the ecosystem that we’re trying to build here in the U.S. around our own retail, which are really those temples of chocolate.”
Hotel Chocolat launched its first Chicago store in April 2025 in Lakeview and opened three other locations in the city last year, including its U.S. flagship on North Michigan Avenue. This year, Hotel Chocolat added two suburban locations, opening in north suburban Hubbard Woods in April and at Oakbrook Center last month.
While there are no overnight stays, Hotel Chocolat offers an immersive experience with its signature “Wall of Chocolate,” featuring a rotating variety of bite-sized flavors for $8 each or three for $20, as well as its Velvetiser Café, serving a continental take on hot chocolate.
Early returns in Chicago have been promising.
“Chicago has been such an incredible market for us to learn everything about deployment and size and mix, and the community reaction to the brand has just been better than we could have expected,” Goering said.
Founded in 2004, Hotel Chocolat sources its cacao and its roots to a farm and hotel on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. The company also has a manufacturing facility and 165 retail stores in the United Kingdom.
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In January 2024, Mars completed a $662 million acquisition of Hotel Chocolat, putting the chocolatier under the umbrella of its Chicago-based candy division, which includes everything from M&M’s to Snickers. The goal was always to expand the British brand’s retail footprint across the New World.
This fall, Hotel Chocolat will venture beyond the Chicago market with three new stores in Salt Lake City; Long Beach, California; and Alexandria, Virginia. The brand previously unveiled ambitious plans to open 70 to 100 stores across the U.S. within the next five to seven years, but the retail expansion may be more measured at this point.
Hotel Chocolat will have nine locations by year’s end, and will look to fill in more stores in the three new markets before expanding to other cities, Goering said.
“Long-term retail growth is going to be informed by the opening of these new markets,” Goering said. “But I would say the outlook is favorable for continued expansion.”
The chain is also “doubling down” on building its digital sales this fall, she said. But the new retail activations will be crucial to luring customers to check into the Hotel Chocolat on a whim.
In addition to the three far-flung retail stores, Hotel Chocolat is launching displays at several supermarket chains across the country in November, including nine Chicago-area Mariano’s locations.
Mariano’s stores in Northbrook, Glenview, Wheaton, Vernon Hills, Elmhurst, Palatine, Lake Zurich, Westchester and Skokie will feature Hotel Chocolat Advent calendars and assorted stocking stuffers for the holidays.
Hotel Chocolat will also be opening up at 49 airports this fall through a partnership with Paradies Lagardère. The concession locations include John F. Kennedy International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
While Midway and O’Hare will not be getting a Hotel Chocolat concession this fall, the six Chicago-area stores should be enough to sate the chocolate cravings of most everyone except those catching a connecting flight.
As such, Chicago may not see any new stores in the near future as Hotel Chocolat launches its national expansion, Goering said.
“I think we’re in a good place right now for Chicago,” Goering said. “Maybe one more if the right one came along, but I think we have enough right now.”
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