Stores

Thornton’s trade from over 380 stores across the whole of the UK and Ireland , predominantly in the North and Midlands.

A Thornton's store can be found in all the major towns and cities whether in shopping Malls, High Streets, Railway Stations, Airports or Factory Outlet centres. Whether they are large 20 bay stores or smaller 8 bay stores each provides the customer with a delightful experience.

Did you know we’ve been making delicious chocolates for almost a hundred years? In fact, our very first shop was opened in Sheffield by Joseph William Thornton, who handed the keys to his teenage sons Norman and Stanley and said: “Make this the best sweet shop in town!” Well, they didn’t do a bad job, did they?

Over the next few years, as Thorntons got a name for itself, we created a uniquely rich and chewy ‘special’ toffee, that became so popular it became the fuel of the city’s steelworkers. And later, just after the Second World War, they hired one of Europe’s finest chocolatiers, Walter Willem, to bring Europe’s finest soft-centred chocolates to the UK and created Continental.

Today, we’re based in Derbyshire, employ some 4,000 chocolate lovers around the UK and we’re proud to be one of the best-loved and oldest names on the high street. But we haven’t forgotten our roots. We still make our extra special toffee and we’re still famous for our delicious Continentals. Most importantly, the joy and wide-eyed wonder of two small boys running a sweet shop remains at the heart of everything we do, constantly surprising us with new and ever more amazing recipes.

As you can probably tell, we’re really passionate about chocolate and we’d like to share a bit of that passion with you. In this section, we invite you to find out more about one of the world’s favourite foods and what it is we do here at Thorntons...

The short, sweet history of chocolate
Chocolate. We love it, you love it and every day, millions of people enjoy it in all its delicious forms. But where does it come from and how did it get to be so popular? In this short history of chocolate, we’ll look at how a simple, rather bitter-tasting little bean was transformed into one of the best loved foods in the world.

Now, if you’re sitting comfortably, preferably with a big bag of your favourite Thorntons, we’ll begin...

The amazing Aztecs…
Our journey starts around 4,000 years ago in the Americas. Ancient tribes like the Aztecs and Mayans revered cacao (or cocoa) beans, eating them before going into battle because they were thought to give strength. The Aztecs also believed that cacao actually came from paradise itself and whoever ate the beans would be blessed with wisdom, energy and, ahem, enhanced sexual powers.

Hang on, we’ve got an idea!
The Aztecs are thought to have been the first people to turn the cacao beans into a more edible form. They roasted the beans, ground them into a paste and dissolved the paste in water with a few spices and chillies. It might not sound particularly yummy, but there it was, the very first drinking chocolate. They called it chocolate, which means bitter drink, and it was lapped up in sacred rituals and quaffed by elite tribesmen for the next few hundred years, until...

Invasion!
In the 1500s the Europeans decided to go exploring and stick their noses in. We’re all familiar with Chris Columbus, the Spanish conquistadors’ ‘discovery’ of America and just how badly that turned out for the native people. But at first the Spanish didn’t realise the potential for cacao, preferring other wonders like gold.

Welcome to Spain
In 1519, the Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez visited the court of Emperor Montezuma in Mexico, where he was presented with a golden goblet of chocolate. Realising he’d stumbled across something pretty amazing, Cortez took some cacao beans back to Spain, where monks perfected a technique for roasting and grinding them. They also had the brilliant idea of replacing the chilli with cane sugar to improve the taste.

Just for posh people?
With the Aztecs conquered, the Spanish were able to establish their own huge plantations and export large amounts of cacao back to Europe. By the 17th century, chocolate had become something of a luxury item among Europe’s aristocracy.

In the 17th century, diarist Samuel Pepys swore by chocolate’s energising properties and Napoleon carried it with him into battle to give him a quick boost. Parisians were using it to treat problems like indigestion and nervous conditions.

But with the advent of the industrial revolution and mass production in the late 18th and early 19th century, delicious chocolate, now in a solid form, began to take off in a big way.

We love chocolate!
Today, chocolate has become one of the most versatile and beloved foods in the world. And yet it’s become so much more – we have an emotional, sensual connection with chocolate that we have with few other foods. It comforts us, delights us, draws us in and gives us a taste experience unlike any other. Simply put, we love it. And the humble beans it comes from have had a heck of a journey over the past 4,000 years.