See’s Candies, a longtime haven for chocolate lovers, is suspending production for only the second time in its 99-year history.
On social media on March 28, the company announced that it has temporarily suspended operations of its fulfillment, shipping and call center departments, which are based in Carson, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“See’s is always focused on bringing joy to our customers,” company officials said in a notice posted on its website and elsewhere. “We are very sorry to have to say that sees.com is not taking orders at this time. In recognition of the guidance provided by local health authorities, See’s has suspended production and shipping of product. We will work to keep you updated as we develop plans to safely resume operations.”
As with most non-essential retailers in California, Sees stores had been closed since mid-March. The San Francisco-based company has 250 locations in 17 states, including about 150 in California.
The only other time Sees closed its kitchens was in the 1940s during World War II.
Sees was founded in Los Angeles in 1921 by Charles Alexander See II, his wife, Florence, and his widowed mother, Mary, shortly after the family arrived in the United States from Canada. To this day the company boasts of still using Mary Sees’ original recipes.
The company’s chocolate assembly line was famously featured in a classic 1952 episode of “I Love Lucy” where the characters played by actresses Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance failed to keep up with production and tried to hide it by eating the chocolates they were unable to wrap and box.
