Award-winning chocolate shop Chocolat Chocolat to leave the city centre
The popular Cambridge chocolate shop Chocolat Chocolat is leaving the city centre after 15 years, with high rents and the proposed congestion charge among the reasons cited.
The award-winning independent business shut the doors to its Grand Arcade store for the final time on Saturday, July 29.
A new home for the popular chocolate shop has yet to be revealed by the owners.
A statement released on the company’s social media accounts said it had held “talks with a number of places”. It is thought the business will be moving to a nearby village.
The statement continued: “Why are we moving?
“The answer’s simple, the rents in the very centre of Cambridge are high, so are the rates, the parking costs put customers off, the congestion charge is scary, and that coupled with the rising raw material costs means that we can’t produce chocolate at a price we’d like to sell at without changing where we work.”
The popular store spent 12 years on St Andrew’s Street before moving into the Grand Arcade unit – next to John Lewis – in April last year.
Chocolat Chocolat is famous for its handmade sheet chocolate, made with the finest Belgian chocolate in a unique French style.
The shop, which opened in 2009, not only makes chocolate lovers happy, but it has also helped many companies, large and small, reward and thank their teams or retain and attract customers by running a bespoke corporate chocolate course.
The Greater Cambridge Partnership is working on revised proposals for a citywide road charge.
