NEW YORK – Russell Stover is vamping up its image to be more sexy, Advertising Age reports. The chocolatier wants to romance the gourmet crowd with more upscale offerings.

The candy maker is planning to launch “more sophisticated lines (Urban, Private Reserve), upscale flavors (vanilla bean brûlée), trendy packaging (red, alligator-skin-clad hearts) and a new marketing push,” reports the magazine.

Russell Stover sales dropped 4 percent last year to $93 million and Whitman’s (which it owns) fell 12 percent to $41 million. Meanwhile, sales at Lindt and Ghirardelli, makers of gourmet chocolate candy, jumped 87 percent and 244 percent respectively, according to Information Resources Inc. data.

The revamping at Russell Stover will start this spring with Whitman's Soho, Russell Stover Urban, and Internationale and Origin Select lines. The candy maker has already gone into organic candies and added a Private Reserve extension.