Sharjah24 – Reuters: Dripping chocolate covers homemade, heart-shaped marshmallows at Li-Lac Chocolates' 9000-square-foot production space in New York City.

Three days before Valentine's Day, on Friday (February 11), employees are busy decorating chocolate hearts with colored sprinkles, dipping cherries in chocolate, and preparing toffee filling.

They're also racing to place chocolates into red and gold boxes for sale online and at the company's six retail locations.

Valentine's Day is one of the busiest times of year for Li-Lac Chocolates.

Li-Lac Chocolates has been operating since 1923 and will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.

It makes what the it calls "old school chocolate."

Everything is made by hand using the founders' original recipes from the 1920s.

The company built up its online business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, it says, it's seeing store sales grow again, as tourists and office workers slowly begin to return to Manhattan.

In spite of challenges stocking certain raw materials, the chocolate house expects is optimistic about its sales outlook this holiday.

The National Retail Federation expects spending on Valentine's Day 2022 (February 14) to reach $23.9 billion, up from $21.8 billion in 2021.

It says candy - including chocolate - remains the most popular item, followed by greeting cards and flowers.

Valentine's Day might show that chocolate is pandemic-proof, and a little sweetness during hard times goes a long way.