Candy capital Chicago lost an 80-year-old icon, as the corporate parent of Fannie May and Fanny Farmer candy announced it would close its West Loop factory and 228 stores nationwide.
The brand names are expected to survive, but the candy will come from somewhere else, possibly Mexico, where sugar is much cheaper than it is here. About 3,600 people are expected to lose their jobs.
Archibald Candy Corp. said it was in final negotiations with an unnamed purchaser for its candy business. The company’s aging manufacturing plant was not part of the deal.
“Regardless of who the eventual new owner is, the Chicago manufacturing facility will cease production and be closed,” said Archibald spokesman Ron Bottrell.
Chicago remained the king of candy for a long time after it ceased to be hog butcher for the world.
But government price supports for sugar mean it is much more expensive to make candy in the U.S. than elsewhere in the world.
What’s next: There is little political support for ending the subsidy for sugar producers. Chicago’s remaining confectioners and candymakers will continue to labor under a handicap or face moving.
