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History
In 1923, Clara and Russell Stover equipped the basement of their Denver bungalow home with candy-making equipment and started making “Mrs. Stover’s Bungalow Candies.” They opened their first store in December of that year, selling 120 pounds of chocolate and raising $90 the first day. Twelve months later, they had five stores in the Denver area and 30 employees working in the basement of their home.
The Stovers never cut corners as they looked to grow their business. When machine-dipping came along to speed candy manufacturing, the Stovers resisted. Hand-dipping was more costly, but produced a thicker chocolate coating and made the most attractive finished pieces.
By the time of Russell Stover’s death in 1954, Russell Stover candies were sold in 35 company-owned retail stores and some 2,000 drugstores and department stores throughout the Midwest. The company operated factories in Kansas City, Denver, and Lincoln, Nebraska.
In 1960, Louis Ward, the company’s longtime box manufacturer, purchased the company. Ward’s first goal was to expand the distribution of the brand nationally. His critical challenge became distributing perishable chocolates while maintaining the company’s reputation for freshness.
Ward strategically added manufacturing plants and distribution centers throughout the country. He insisted that all accounts be fixtured in the same manner and receive the same sales and product distribution support regardless of their size. While this format was not new to the candy bar industry in the 1960s, the boxed chocolate category had never seen this style of support.
By 1980, sales had reached $140 million, and the company employed 3,500 people at five factories. The company’s products were distributed through 300 company-owned retail stores and approximately 18,000 wholesale accounts.
A significant advancement occurred in the mid-1980s when the company invented a way to further automate the packaging of handmade assorted chocolates. Prior to this innovation, no candy company in the world could automate the packaging of chocolates into thin paper cups. This breakthrough allowed the company to significantly increase production and meet the demands of America’s changing retail landscape.
Small independent merchants saw new competition with the growing popularity of mass merchants. Many manufacturers feared that selling to these new mass merchants would lessen the perceived quality of their brands. Ward made the critical decision to sell to this new distribution channel. Today, both mass merchants and independents play a critical role in the company’s success.
In 1993, Russell Stover Candies purchased Whitman’s Candies, one of the crown jewels of the candy industry. The Whitman’s SamplerTM is the company’s best-selling single assortment.
Mr. Ward’s innovations and the subsequent efficiencies they brought to the company fueled Russell Stover’s growth. Ward made his two sons co-presidents in 1993 when his health began to decline. Lou Ward died in 1996.
The company has truly taken flight under the leadership of Tom and Scott Ward. The Ward brothers have continued to use their father’s disciplines and principles, as well as the Stover’s recipes and candy making techniques, in the tradition that is Russell Stover Candies.
This tradition has allowed the company to not only survive the past 80 years, but grow from a bungalow kitchen to the number-one boxed chocolate brand in America. Lou Ward summed up the brand’s success, “Our sales growth reflects the consumer’s desire to buy a better quality product at a reasonable price.”
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