Specialist retailer Hotel Chocolat has added another string to its bow by opening a store in Cambridge which is equal parts cafe and shop.

The mark of the best retailers is not to simply sit back and let the sales ring up, but rather to see what might be done next and how things could be improved.

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 1

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 1

Hotel Chocolat has many arms to its operation, but chocolate has remained its singular focus throughout

That is probably a lot easier said than done because seeing through the trappings and design features that make a store what it is, always tends to be tricky – retailers often seem to consider their stores in isolation and, frequently, be rather pleased with them.

But impatience and a degree of self-criticism are what often mark out the cream of the crop, including Hotel Chocolat.

This is a retailer that has morphed from being a purveyor of luxury chocolate, to a hotel manager, a restaurateur and now, in its latest incarnation, a cafe proprietor.

Despite such diverse operations, Hotel Chocolat has stayed true to its cocoa-based roots and remains singularly focused on one product – chocolate.

To map out the retailer’s future trajectory, the best place to head is probably Cambridge.

Upscale appeal

Here the retailer has relocated from a high footfall position next to the city’s market to the upscale Grand Arcade shopping centre.

“Hotel Chocolat has seen that a branded combination of retail and leisure is something for which there is demand and has responded accordingly”

John Ryan

This mall, which has been up-and-running since early 2008, is home to tenants such as John Lewis, Gant, Hobbs, Ted Baker and Rigby & Peller.

This is perfect territory for those in search of the most upmarket purchases in a well-heeled city with a very high tourist footfall.

So the decision to relocate to Grand Arcade was relatively simple for Hotel Chocolat co-founder and joint owner Angus Thirlwell. “We were in a very good position near the market, but it was absolutely essential to find another gear and finding this more premium site has meant more regular footfall,” he says.

Two-pronged approach

The store is in two parts. The front section, which opens out on to the mall, is a Hotel Chocolat as will be familiar to those acquainted with the brand. However, at the back, beyond the cash desk, there is a cafe, which takes up about 40% of the total space.

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 6

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 6

Beyond the cash desk is a cafe, which takes up about 40% of the total space

A counter occupies most of the left-hand perimeter wall in this part of the shop.

The addition of the cafe means that Hotel Chocolat now caters for those who wish to indulge themselves with some chocolate, as well as shoppers who want to take a little more time to pause and enjoy a hot chocolate with chili, for example.

Thirlwell makes the point that coffee shops are relatively newfangled when set against drinking chocolate cafes.

“Chocolate in the 1700s was very much the drink and there were hot chocolate houses across London. Coffee houses only came in because the government of the time slapped a punitive tax on cocoa,” he says.

Change of pace

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 16

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 16

Beverages on offer in the cafe include hot chocolate with chili

Thirlwell’s longstanding design consultancy, responsible for many of Hotel Chocolat’s interiors across the UK and in Denmark, has been Terry Moore of Terry Moore Design. For this interior however, he called upon the services of Gary Fox, owner of Lyme Regis-based Studio Fox.

“His strength is food and beverage design,” says Thirlwell. “I’ve been working on this cafe model for five years and with this launch I think we’ve really cracked it. It’s intended to provide a cool refuel.”

Even so, for many of those visiting the shop the chocolate will be the main attraction, and those with sharp eyes will note that this interior is a little more muted than previous iterations.

Thirlwell says that his head of design at Hotel Chocolat has been trying to create new interiors for the brand that are less in-your-face, even though they are already models of slick understated luxury.

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 5

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 5

Hotel Chocolat collaborated with Studio Fox on the design

“We’re always conscious that we shouldn’t be getting into a position where everything is shouting with the same intensity. There’s always a hierarchy of communication. You have to decide what you want to tell people about first, what next and so on,” says Thirlwell.

Pragmatic indulgence

The move towards a very traditional hot beverage format will prolong dwell time in-store and add another arm to the operation where space permits. But is it profitable?

Thirlwell is cautious about providing numbers, but does say that the sales from the cafe part of this enterprise are “commensurate with other cafes.”

“I’ve been working on this cafe model for five years and with this launch I think we’ve really cracked it. It’s intended to provide a cool refuel”

Angus Thirlwell, Hotel Chocolat

The real point however is probably that Hotel Chocolat has seen that a branded combination of retail and leisure is something for which there is a strong demand and has responded accordingly.

The question that hangs in the air, however, is whether all future Hotel Chocolat stores will include a cafe as part of the format.

Again, Thirlwell refuses to commit: “It’s ongoing work. There are still some things that we’d like to do on top of this.

“It’s definitely putting us in the right place, and the interaction that we’re having with customers as a result is something that we can build on.”

There is a fair amount of competition in Cambridge when it comes to selling cocoa-based products, but none of the other chocolate purveyors have a full-scale cafe as part of the mix.

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 4

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 4

The interiors have an understated feel

More generally, the store is part of the growing trend that has seen retailers from upscale cyclewear retailer Rapha to fashion outfits such as Topshop at Oxford Circus, all opting to offer hot beverages as part of their proposition.

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 17

Hotel Chocolat Cambridge 17

Hotel Chocolat has yet to reveal whether the cafe format will be rolled out across future stores in its estate

Of course, for those with cash to splash, there is still the option of heading off to St Lucia in the Caribbean and spending a few hedonistic days at Boucan, the 14-room hotel and restaurant that forms the centerpiece of the Hotel Chocolat-owned Rabot cocoa estate.

The beans for the retailer’s best chocolate come from this plantation and Thirlwell and his business partner Peter Harris have made it an eco-friendly, albeit costly, escape from humdrum reality.

For the majority however, the shop and associated cafe in Cambridge are likely to be as close as they will get to this, and a visit to this store is a treat in its own right.

Hotel Chocolat, Cambridge

Opened October 2015

Design Studio Fox

Point of difference The cafe

Interior More muted that other branches

Ambience Colonial