Thornton's Chocolate Shops Closing

[DianaT1969]

Not surprised.
Sorry for anyone losing their job.
Will anyone on here miss them?

And I'll keep an eye our for Lindt stores next time I'm in Manchester or Leeds

That's really saddened me. Some of my first memoreis are going to Thorntons with grandarents in Liverpool. Crossing the HUGE busy road; being shoved along by the weight of everyone else out shopping on a Saturday monring and the teeny tiny narrow shop and a nice woman who always had a 'broken bit' for us to taste!

@LunaNorth

It was the height of luxury when I was a girl. My best friend’s sister was given a box of Thornton’s chocolates that was entirely edible - the box itself was made of nougat!

I coveted it.

As a teen I’d treat myself to six Viennese truffles in a little bag...I got my babies’ Easter eggs and Advent calendars from there...they provided my first taste of pistachio ice cream, and the strawberry and cream ice cream was to die for.

It’s a real shame they devalued the brand. Happy memories.

I had one of these nougat boxes. It was delicious! And I don't even like nougat. Was a long time ago,though.

I've had their 'classic' chocolates recently and thought they were quite nice. Better than Cadbury milk tray.

www.lindt.co.uk/lindt-750g-pick-mix-box

Lindt pick and mix available on their website or possibly for click and collect, or you can just marvel at all the different flavours.

The big Sainsbury’s has a Lindt pick and mix. I always feel like taking a run and dive into it! Mmmmmmm. Lovely choccy

There are over 100 Thornton’s that are franchises and aren’t affected by the closures.

@halcyondays

There are over 100 Thornton’s that are franchises and aren’t affected by the closures.

Let's hope someone recognises that the quality needs improving again. I would genuinely use Thorntons as my 'go-to' chocolate if it tasted like it did back in the 90s.

As others have said, the Viennese tasted like heaven. Now they just taste like a fat ball .

I thought they closed about a decade ago always looked like a fun job!

@halcyondays

There are over 100 Thornton’s that are franchises and aren’t affected by the closures.

oh that's good if true (for the staff)

Not at all, their choc is horrible. No point in having high street shops selling stuff no better than Cadburys.

I grew up in Sheffield which is quite near Belper where the chocolate was produced. I remember my mum’s work often had Christmas trips there to buy bags of mishapes. I also remember how special they were and you couldn’t get them in London.

When l went to live in London in 1983, they had one shop in Covent Garden. And there were always massive queues to get in.

They sold out. But they were fantastic at one stage.

I have to disagree about Hotel Chocolat; I think their chocolates are bloody amazing! But they are quite expensive. You get what you pay for I suppose.

HC is the new kid on the block, for now. Until someone new comes along and sells over priced chocolates to the brand snobs.

Hee hee. I just stumbled across this story from back in 2007...

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/7042398.stm

Seems some at Throntons may have recognised the threat from HC as many as 14 years back!

OOh! I don't like HC either. I don't think I like any of the easily available stuff. It takes forever to find chocolate that isn't sickly sweet and has no palm oil.

Why are the ingredients lists so teeny tiny?

i have never been a fan, there was a shop near to me that i once went to to buy easter eggs for my dc
we are not chocolate connoisseurs and prefer cadburys.
the high street is taking a battering though

When the high streets reopen they are going to look very different. I wonder what is going to happen to all these empty shops. Will we end up more like the US with retail parks and shopping centres.

I'm surprised they've been going as long as they have. I see them in the likes of Home Bargains and B and M all the time. The only Thorntons shop I sometimes went in was one that had a cafe but I can't really say I'll miss it.

And I'm sure Aldi Moser Roth chocolate is Thorntons. I once had a box of each and every chocolate looked and tasted identical even down to where they were each positioned in the box. Only difference was the price.

They closed down here 3 years ago. I read the report yesterday, they only had 10% of the shops they had 10 years ago open by last March I

Thorntons screwed up by going mass market. It used to be one of the go to brands for gifts but knowing you can pick up a box at Sainsbury's just made them another supermarket box of chocolates and therefore not anything special.

Nowadays you can get chocolates online or even Aldi sells excellent chocolate. Glad the owned ones are staying open. In Nth Mcr we have Slatterys which is a chocolatier/patisserie. its all made on the premises. Not anymore expensive than thorntons are/were.

@PineappleSun

I'll miss them too, haven't been able to find orange toffee chocs for years now. Also going to have to find another cafe for my obligatory hot chocolate when I visit Bakewell :(

The pudding shop or the Bakewell Tart would fill the gap well

The pudding shop or the Bakewell Tart would fill the gap well

Ok l can’t believe I’m going to say this! Before lockdownl went to Bakewell quite often. The above cafe served such huge over decorated pieces of cake that l couldn’t eat it all. I l can always eat all my cake! It’s a matter of honour!

@Frazzled2207 @badassbitch

Not sure where you are, but there are Lindt shops at Freeport (Braintree), Clarks Village (Somerset) and use to be one at Ashford (Kent). You can also buy online. I thoroughly recommend the cappucino, mango and champagne flavours.