Russell Stover Candies facts for kids
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Chocolate confections |
| Founded | 1923 Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
| Founders | Russell William Stover Clara Stover |
| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Number of locations
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Manufacturing – Iola, Kansas; Abilene, Kansas; Corsicana, Texas |
| Products | Chocolate Confections |
| Owner | Lindt & Sprüngli |
| Parent | Lindt & Sprüngli |
| Subsidiaries | Whitman's and Pangburn's Chocolates |
Russell Stover Chocolates is a famous American company. It makes many delicious candies, chocolates, and other sweet treats. It was started in 1923 by Russell Stover, who was a chemist and a smart business person, and his wife Clara Stover. Today, it's part of a big Swiss chocolate company called Lindt & Sprüngli. The company is based in Kansas City, Missouri. A different family, the Ward family, owned it for a long time until Lindt & Sprüngli bought it in July 2014.
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The Sweet Story of Russell Stover
Back in 1921, Russell Stover teamed up with Christian Kent Nelson. Christian Nelson was a schoolteacher from Iowa who invented the famous Eskimo Pie! Together, they created a chocolate-covered ice cream sandwich. This treat was very popular. Other companies paid them to make it.
Soon, other companies started making similar chocolate-covered ice cream products. This made it hard for Russell Stover's business. So, the Stovers sold their part of the company. They moved to Denver, Colorado. In 1923, Russell and Clara started a new company from their home. They called it Mrs. Stover's Bungalow Candies. They sold boxed chocolates. In 1943, the company's name changed to Russell Stover Candies.
Growing the Chocolate Business
In 1960, a man named Louis Ward and his partner bought the company. They paid $7.5 million for it. Louis Ward was in charge of the company until 1993. His sons, Scott H. and Thomas Ward, then took over the business. The company grew by buying other chocolate brands. They bought Whitman's in 1993 and Pangburn's in 1999.
Joining the Lindt Family
The Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli bought Russell Stover Chocolates. This happened on July 14, 2014. When Russell Stover joined Lindt, the company changed how it worked. They made their marketing team much bigger. They also started focusing less on chocolates for holidays.
The company also worked on making more sugar-free products. By 2019, they started using Stevia, a natural sweetener. This replaced an artificial sweetener. They also changed the packaging to look more appealing. This helped them attract more customers. In 2020, Russell Stover Chocolates was the top sugar-free chocolate company in the United States.
Because sales were strong in 2019, Russell Stover Chocolates planned to make their factories bigger. These factories are in Iola, Kansas, Abilene, Kansas, and Corsicana, Texas. However, they also announced that their factory in Montrose, Colorado would close in 2021. Some of their stores and distribution centers across the U.S. also closed.
Recent Years (2020-Present)
In July 2020, Russell Stover Chocolates took part in a special online job fair. This event was for people looking for jobs during the COVID pandemic. It helped people find work while staying safe at home.
In September 2020, the company had to let go of about 300 employees. This was because of the pandemic's effects. The closing of the Montrose plant also meant about 300 jobs were lost.
In April 2021, Russell Stover made an agreement with the Topeka Correctional Facility. They started a program to hire inmates. About 150 inmates began working at their Iola and Abilene factories in Kansas. This was part of a bigger effort by U.S. companies to find workers.
