{"id":36261,"date":"2023-01-16T13:26:22","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T20:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/rocky-mountain-chocolate-factory-ceo-satisfied-with-third-quarter-results\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:30:11","slug":"rocky-mountain-chocolate-factory-ceo-satisfied-with-third-quarter-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/rocky-mountain-chocolate-factory-ceo-satisfied-with-third-quarter-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory CEO satisfied with third quarter results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Durango flagship store on Main Avenue in Durango saw a 34% increase in sales during the third fiscal quarter. Pictured here is the business\u2019 corporate headquarters in Bodo Industrial Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory saw an 11% revenue increase during its third fiscal quarter, according to an earnings report.<\/p>\n

Total revenue increased to $9.5 million for the three months \u2013 September through November \u2013 compared to $8.5 million for the same quarter in 2021. Total gross profit also increased 17% to $2.1 million compared to the third fiscal quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fiscal Q3 was highlighted by our strongest third quarter of sales since 2017, as well as our strongest third quarter of adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) since 2020,\u201d said Rob Sarlls, CEO of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in a news release. \u201cWe also generated record sales at our flagship Durango store, which was up 34% year-over-year for the quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarlls said later in an interview that the Durango flagship store\u2019s success was a result of the company\u2019s more concerted effort with the Durango location, appointing a new operations manager and better tourism during the fall months.<\/p>\n

He cited an uptick in COVID-19 cases during 2021 as a reason that the Durango location sales could\u2019ve been lower during the previous third fiscal quarter.<\/p>\n

An even more surprising number was that the company\u2019s loss from operations reduced significantly to $212,000 compared to $2 million during the same time last year.<\/p>\n

The decrease was primarily driven by lower costs associated with the contested solicitation of proxies, as well as increased operational efficiencies. A proxy contest is a campaign to solicit votes in opposition to management at an annual stockholder meeting or through action by written consent.<\/p>\n

In December, the company entered a standstill agreement until 2025 with dissident shareholders and as the result of a lawsuit against AB Value\/Radoff Group being dismissed.<\/p>\n

Sarlls said future quarters are sure to look better in the loss from operations category because the company is no longer fighting an expensive legal battle.<\/p>\n

Overall, Sarlls attested the company\u2019s improved third quarter to a better-than-expected uptick in holiday purchases, social media marketing campaigns and the ability to keep stores stocked with product.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still underway with developing and deploying our strategic transformation, however these early wins are very encouraging and indicate that we are on the right path,\u201d said Sarlls in a news release Thursday. \u201cWe plan to continue fostering dialogue with all of our stakeholders as we develop and finalize our strategic plan in the weeks ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company is trying to strengthen existing franchisee relationships and expand efforts to attract new ones. Part of the plan has been to reinvest in the Durango flagship store and renew its commitment to community outreach.<\/p>\n

tbrown@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Durango flagship store sees increase in sales during fall months<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,28,1355],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-36261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-headlines","tag-rocky-mountain-chocolate-factory"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83284,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36261\/revisions\/83284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36261"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=36261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}