The Chocolate Works has closed its Harrogate site, just six months after opening.
The café on Station Parade served chocolates, sweet treats, coffees and Belgian hot chocolate.
It was the third venture of its kind run by owner Guy Middleton, who also operates sites in Skipton and Clitheroe. But Mr Middleton said the Harrogate shop, which opened in April, “floundered from the beginning”.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“There is no one more gutted that I am.
“I was so excited to open in Harrogate following the success of Skipton, which opened mid-pandemic in 2020, but it just didn’t work out.”
He said the closure was predominantly due to a lack of footfall, adding:
“Perhaps a different location would’ve changed things – but no one knows these things.
“All our neighbouring businesses were so supportive, and we had such a great team.”
The Harrogate unit, which ceased trading on September 27, was previously intended to house the vegan restaurant Vertigo but the company went out of business a year ago before the Station Parade site opened.
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New chocolate and coffee cafe to open in Harrogate next month
A new chocolate and coffee cafe is to open in Harrogate town centre next month.
The Chocolate Works, which already has cafes in Clitheroe and Skipton, will open on Station Parade.
It will be situated in the vacant unit that was intended to house the ill-fated vegan restaurant Vertigo, which went out of business a year ago before its Harrogate eatery opened.
Signs advertising the new venture on Station Parade have gone up.
Owner Guy Middleton, who opened the Clitheroe store in 2017 followed by Skipton three years later, said the Harrogate cafe will employ about 10 staff and open on March 25.
Mr Middleton, who entered the chocolate business about a decade ago after a career in marketing and communications that included a spell in California, promised the cafe would be “delicious, fresh and fun” in a “space to come and enjoy yourself”.
The Chocolate Works cafes serve predominantly Belgian chocolate dishes, including hot chocolate, as well as loose chocolate that can be taken away.
They also stock a wide range of coffees and speciality teas plus waffles, ice cream and milkshakes.
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