‘Let’s do this’: Juliette & Chocolat bounces back after financial woes

The joy, the chocolate and, of course, the iconic red hats are back.

Business is up and running once again at Juliette & Chocolat on Jean Talon Street, only a few months after this location and nine other retail outlets shut down after the business declared bankruptcy.

“It was horrible because I’m extremely positive in life and in my head, there was no other way than making it work,” said Juliette Brun, Juliette & Chocolat founder. “So I didn’t think it was ever going to happen.”

Brun, who founded the business 20 years ago, said in August she was forced to close the store’s 10 locations after not being able to cover the repayment of government loans taken out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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But during the bankruptcy process, she says she had a conversation with a former employee that helped her business come alive again.

“We started talking and he said, ‘If we wanted to open a Juliette & Chocolat, how would we proceed?’ And I said, ‘Well, if you want to open, you should do it now because everything is going to be liquidated for a fraction of the price and you can get a store that’s already renovated, so no cost to opening a store,'” Brun said.

That former employee, Axel Monehaie, approached two other former Juliette & Chocolat staff members, Janice Michel and Ombeine Hamouy, and together they became franchisees of their own store, on Jean Talon Street, that had its grand reopening in mid-November.

“We were working for Juliette so we knew that people loved Juliette & Chocolat, so we knew that we had a big deal — an opportunity to open a new one, maybe the only one, so we said, ‘OK, let’s do this,'” Hamouy said.

The new owners say the response from the community so far has been extremely positive — beyond what they ever imagined.

They’re excited for the new adventure, and Brun is also excited for what’s in store for the relaunch of her business.

“We want to be famous worldwide,” Brun said. “So even if we have to restart from one and two, slowly and steadily, we’ll get there.”

And chocolate lovers didn’t have to wait very long

A second Juliette & Chocolat franchise has already opened its doors in the Ahunstic-Cartierville borough.