Godiva's Connecticut Stores Doomed After Closing Announcement

CONNECTICUT — Godiva is melting away from its retail stores and taking three Connecticut locations with it.

The upscale chocolatier announced Monday that it would be closing or selling all 128 of its physical stores North America. Company officials announced in a statement that the closures should be done by the end of March.

Godiva plans to maintain its stores in Europe, the Middle East and in "Greater China," according to the announcement.

Godiva has three stores in the Nutmeg State:

• At the Westfarms mall straddling Farmington and West Hartford
• At the Stamford Town Center mall
• At the Mohegan Sun Casino

Godiva officials did not elaborate on how many jobs would be lost with the closures.

The chocolatier opened its first cafe in the United States in New York City in April 2019 and announced that it planned on opening 10 more cafes in New York and more than 400 across the United States.

It was part of a plan to open 2,000 new cafes around the world.

The Godiva stores have a heavy mall presence, and traffic in them has plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic.