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From clans of costumed performers to hordes of bug-eyed out-of-towners, Times Square is home to a lot of obnoxious things. The sprawling bright screens and shiny product placements at the venue have managed to turn American capitalism into an insanely popular, revenue-driving spectacle. The location is one giant tourist trap and isn't exactly a place that New Yorkers visit by choice.
But for parents who drag their sticky-fingered, sweet-toothed children through the city in "I Love NY" T-shirts, there is one tourist trap that we'd definitely recommend: Hershey's Chocolate World. Later this year, the giant chocolate conglomerate is moving from its iconic eyesore building at 48th Street and Broadway to a bigger, more obnoxious location at 47th Street and 7th Avenue.
The new location will be three times larger than the original store and come with a 91-foot digital marquee (which is exactly what the city needs). The new shop will include a bakery, a candy machine that allows patrons to combine all of their favorite Hershey's products into a bag of sugar-filled sweetness and even a faux RV doling out fresh s'mores.
Each and every feature in the new candy store is more Times Square-y than the old location, and Hershey's is expecting the move to pay off in a big way (they're projecting more than four million annual visitors).
The store does not yet have a fixed opening date—Hershey's says that it will open in "late 2017." Until then, locals and tourists alike will be stuck with the old Hershey's Chocolate World and all of its scuffed-up, crudely placed candy logos.
Photograph: Clayton Guse