[flange]

Hotel Chocolat are opening in Newcastle on Blackett Street in the former Ecco Shoes unit.

http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/cid/...END2EZ3E/Chocolate-Shop-Newcastle-Astore_new/

 

[GrahamSoult]

Hotel Chocolat are opening in Newcastle on Blackett Street in the former Ecco Shoes unit.

http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/cid/...END2EZ3E/Chocolate-Shop-Newcastle-Astore_new/

Now, that is good news!

 

[AngerOfTheNorth]

The decision to allow ASDA to open up has to be one of the most stupid I've seen for years. Shields Rd will die completely and Chillingham Rd will suffer too.

I got a flyer through my door from a local Labour councillor saying that they were in favour of the ASDA, but will be offering help to local shops and businesses to stop them being damaged by it. Funnily enough, they didn't say what help they'd be offering...

 

[NewcastleStu]

Mmmm, chocolate! Good news.

 

[shiggy]

give them another 2 years and they will go bump!

i am amazed the concept pays for the locations they are in...

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Sod's law would have it that they open when I'm juststarting to lose my sweet tooth. Then again I don't go to Thorntons so I doubt I wil be giving them my money, you seen the prices they are charging?

 

[Rational Plan]

They do have really nice chocolate, but it is a rare treat. Much better than Thorntons.

 

[shiggy]

quality against price in my opinion it is very poor. people are sold the 'indulgence' concept rather than the product.

 

[toonlad]

quality against price it is infact very poor. people are sold the 'indulgence' concept rather than the product.

I think that qualifies as opinion rather than fact.

 

[johnnypd]

quality against price it is infact very poor. people are sold the 'indulgence' concept rather than the product.

totally agree, it's shite imo. if i'm buying chocolates for a special occasion such as a birthday i'd much rather pay an extra fiver and get some top quality delivered from london or even paris.

 

[shiggy]

quality against price in my opinion it is very poor. people are sold the 'indulgence' concept rather than the product.

and...

 

[paddytoonleics]

Most 'luxury' items aren't of the best quality, but these companies absolutely succeed because they manage to portray and market a level of oppulance and rinse the mark-up. M&S probably do a suit of similar, if not better, quality to Hugo Boss...at a third of the price....yet we all seem to be gagging for them to open in Newcastle.

Hotel Chocolat is jumped-up Thorntons, which itself is just jumped-up quality street.

Let's just be glad a retailer who is percieved quite 'high-end' is opening up in an otherwise empty shop! Judging by the store list, we're the last place yet to get one...

 

[toonlad]

^^ I think they are nicer than Thorntons, I think they are what Thorntons was 15 years ago maybe. Now you can get Thorntons products in Tesco they have lost any claim to being a 'luxury' item.

 

[upnorth]

totally agree, it's shite imo. if i'm buying chocolates for a special occasion such as a birthday i'd much rather pay an extra fiver and get some top quality delivered from london or even paris.

Just out of interest, what brands can you have delivered from London or Paris that aren't available here? Always seems to me that Fenwicks do a decent range of posh chocs, and there are a couple of good local chocolatiers as well. I'm probably not one to talk about it though, as I'd sooner have a Dairy Milk than anything more upmarket.

Most 'luxury' items aren't of the best quality, but these companies absolutely succeed because they manage to portray and market a level of oppulance and rinse the mark-up. M&S probably do a suit of similar, if not better, quality to Hugo Boss...at a third of the price....yet we all seem to be gagging for them to open in Newcastle.
...
Let's just be glad a retailer who is percieved quite 'high-end' is opening up in an otherwise empty shop! Judging by the store list, we're the last place yet to get one...

Very much agree with this.

 

[johnnypd]

Just out of interest, what brands can you have delivered from London or Paris that aren't available here? Always seems to me that Fenwicks do a decent range of posh chocs, and there are a couple of good local chocolatiers as well. I'm probably not one to talk about it though, as I'd sooner have a Dairy Milk than anything more upmarket.

Melt, William Curley, Artisan du Chocolat, JP Hevin, for example. my favourite is Paul A Young, a young chocolatier from trimdon in county durham making a big name for himself atm in london. unfortunately he doesnt do online sales.

 

[NorthStar78]

Handmade Burger Co are opening up at the Metro Centre in December, looks quite nice, perhaps a bit pricier than normal but I guess you pay for what you get!! Not many of these stores around the UK at the moment either!

 

[paddytoonleics]

nice one, there's one downstairs in my building! Really nice, and the one in Brindley Place in Brum is great too. It's really worth the money, and they always have amazing offers via Vouchercloud etc.

 

[shiggy]

Melt, William Curley, Artisan du Chocolat, JP Hevin, for example. my favourite is Paul A Young, a young chocolatier from trimdon in county durham making a big name for himself atm in london. unfortunately he doesnt do online sales.

yum. William Curley bought some fo his products last christmas, very prompt delivery and quality product.

also laduree macaroons from harrods and some other amazing foods which i wont go into detail of.

 

[BigLebowski]

yum. William Curley bought some fo his products last christmas, very prompt delivery and quality product.

also laduree macaroons from harrods and some other amazing foods which i wont go into detail of.

Bloody hell, i must be the only one affected by this recession, I get excited when tins of cadbury's roses go on half price at Tescos!

I do think the underlying point about Hotel Chocolat isnt the quality of its produce but the burgeoning confidence in non-essential luxury goods retail following several years of austerity. For example I find Apple's products a triumph of design over usability and think Hugo Boss and Guess are gaudy overpriced tat. Jo Malone charging 50 quid for a candle is, in my opinion, obscene and I'll never afford a Bentley. However, the fact all are new or expanding right now shows a confidence in the city which will eventually have a knock-on effect on the rest of the economy (if it isnt already).

Also it cant hurt when attracting retailers to the city which we do like or can afford to use.

 

[Newcastle Historian]

I remember we covered this story earlier in this thread, when the plans were first announced . .

100 bollards set for Northumberland Street
November 4th 2010, by Amy Hunt, Evening Chronicle

WORK to put in bollards designed to protect shoppers on one of Newcastle’s busiest streets has started. Diggers have moved in at the junction of Northumberland Street and Blackett Street as part of a scheme to restrict access in certain parts of the city. About 100 heavy-duty bollards will be installed at four points on Northumberland Street, as well as on Northumberland Road, Ridley Place, John Dobson Street, Brunswick Place, Lisle Street, Saville Row and New Bridge Street West by March 2012. City chiefs decided to install the bollards after a report from the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO), which said crowded places in city centres presented an “attractive target” to terrorists. City bosses are keen to stress there is no specific threat to Newcastle, but they are trying to improve the city’s security on the back of this advice.

Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nort...mberland-street-72703-27600884/#ixzz14KQZ8OoV