“We’re going on in America”
The Belgian chocolate specialist has been
active in the United States since 1989, but to really convince Americans
Neuhaus opened a flagship store with chocolate museum in New York a year ago. CEO Jos
Linkens tells Belgian business paper De Tijd that the relaunch of the 150 year-old
chocolate maker definitely was a success.
“With the holiday season and Valentine, the most
important season is behind us. The conclusion is obvious: we are going on in
America”, says Linkens. The shop in New York is fulfilling the high
expectations and will probably be profitable in its first twelve months,
despite a high marketing budget spent on the flagship store.
Currently Neuhaus has three shops in Manhattan
and is always looking for new locations. Next stop is Wall Street, but Linkens is also dreaming aloud about a second store
in Washington DC and, after that, the densely populated North-East of the
United States.
Profit halved for owner Bois Sauvage
Neuhaus owner Compagnie du Bois Sauvage has
less reasons to celebrate, following the announcement of its financial results
for 2012. The investment group saw its profit almost halved in 2012:
from 31.1 million euro to 16.4 million euro. The reason for this drop was fewer profits
gained from selling participations.
The Brussels-based group did however thin out its vast
portfolio, so it can focus on a limited number of participations and on
the further development of companies it already owns. In that respect Bois
Sauvage sold its shareholdings of two percent in Cofinimmo.
