The Hot Chocolatier has faced challenges including surviving the COVID-19 lockdown to having to move to a new location. The business owners were forced to close their doors on Market Street. A GoFundMe has been organized to help the chocolate shop. The fundraiser reads:
"On another note, we've recently learned that cacao crops have been affected by tropical storms and even the major mass market chocolate producers (i.e. Hershey's, etc.) have talked about increasing prices of products across the board. We've been postponing the import of the chocolate we use since it has seen an incredible mark-up since news of these storms broke a few months ago. What's the old saying, 'Adding salt to the wound?' or 'Kicking a person while they're down?'
"Long story short, we would hope to have both shops operating at this point, but don't see a clear future. We could use any financial assistance anyone is willing to offer while we weigh our options for keeping our locally grown brand alive. "