See's Candies
Encyclopedia
See's Candies is a manufacturer and distributor of candy
, particularly chocolate
, in the western United States
. It was founded by Charles See, his wife Florence, and his mother Mary in Los Angeles, California
, in 1921. The company is now headquartered in South San Francisco, California
. It has kitchens at its headquarters and at a second location in Los Angeles, where there is also a retail shop. It also has an office in Carson, California
.
The chocolate in See's candies has been provided by the Guittard Chocolate Company
since the 1950s; See's and Guittard pioneered the delivery of bulk chocolate in liquid form in tanker trucks in 1959 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811848671.
The company largely markets its products only in its own stores and at those of fellow Berkshire Hathaway
subsidiary Nebraska Furniture Mart
, allowing it to control the standards under which they are stored and marketed. They are also available in some California and Oregon airport
s. Since the mid 1990s, the company has also maintained a strong Internet presence via its website. It is also well-known for being one of the very early investments purchased by Warren Buffett
(via Blue Chip Stamps
) for his Berkshire Hathaway
Corporation (in 1972), beginning the path of that company from a textile
concern to being one of the world's most successful conglomerate
s.
See's Candies operates over 200 stores in the following U.S. states: Arizona
, California
, Colorado
, Hawaii
, Idaho
, Illinois
, New Mexico
, Nevada
, Oregon
, Utah
, and Washington. There are also stores outside the U.S. in Hong Kong
, Japan
, and Macau
. Seasonally — primarily during the year-end holiday shopping season — See's also offers its product in select markets in kiosks at malls and other shopping centers.
from Canada
in 1921 with his wife Florence MacLean Wilson See (1885–1956), and his widowed mother Mary Wiseman See (1854–1939). Mary See had developed the recipes that became the foundation of the See's candy business while helping run her husband's hotel on Tremont Island in Ontario
. The family opened the first See's Candies shop and kitchen at 135 North Western Avenue in Los Angeles
in November 1921. They had twelve shops by the mid-1920s and thirty shops during the Great Depression
. In 1936 See's opened a shop in San Francisco. In 1972 the See family sold the company to Berkshire Hathaway Inc.. Charles N. Huggins became President and CEO through 2006, and was succeeded by Brad Kinstler. In 2004, following the closing of the original Fannie May candy company of Chicago, the See company expanded into the Chicago area, opening a retail/wholesale store in Downers Grove, Illinois. (Since then Fannie May has reopened some of its stores under new ownership.)
and came to California
in 1919. He came with his wife, Florence, with whom he had three children: Laurance A. See (1912-?), Margaret M. See (1913-?), and Harry W. See (1921-?), who was born after they arrived in the U.S. By 1920, they were living in Pasadena, California
and Charles A. See II was working as a druggist in a drug store. At some point prior to her death in 1939, matriarch Mary See moved back to Ontario, Canada, where she was born.
Laurance A. See's high-profile divorce
from his wife Elizabeth in 1962 resulted in a landmark community property
opinion, written by Chief Justice Roger J. Traynor
of the Supreme Court of California
for a unanimous court.
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
, particularly chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
, in the western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. It was founded by Charles See, his wife Florence, and his mother Mary in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, in 1921. The company is now headquartered in South San Francisco, California
South San Francisco, California
South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area...
. It has kitchens at its headquarters and at a second location in Los Angeles, where there is also a retail shop. It also has an office in Carson, California
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....
.
The chocolate in See's candies has been provided by the Guittard Chocolate Company
Guittard Chocolate Company
The Guittard Chocolate Company is an American-based chocolate maker which produces couverture chocolate using original formulas and traditional French methods...
since the 1950s; See's and Guittard pioneered the delivery of bulk chocolate in liquid form in tanker trucks in 1959 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811848671.
The company largely markets its products only in its own stores and at those of fellow Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
subsidiary Nebraska Furniture Mart
Nebraska Furniture Mart
Nebraska Furniture Mart is the largest home furnishing store in North America selling Furniture, Flooring, Appliances and Electronics. NFM was founded in 1937 by Mrs. B in Omaha, Nebraska. She worked in the business until age 103. In 1983, Mrs. B sold a majority interest to Berkshire Hathaway with...
, allowing it to control the standards under which they are stored and marketed. They are also available in some California and Oregon airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s. Since the mid 1990s, the company has also maintained a strong Internet presence via its website. It is also well-known for being one of the very early investments purchased by Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
(via Blue Chip Stamps
Blue Chip Stamps
Blue Chip Stamps started as a trading stamps company called "Blue Chip Stamp Co." They were a competitor to S&H Green Stamps. Blue Chip stamps was a loyalty program for customers, similar to discount cards issued by pharmacies and grocery stores in the digital era...
) for his Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
Corporation (in 1972), beginning the path of that company from a textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
concern to being one of the world's most successful conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
s.
See's Candies operates over 200 stores in the following U.S. states: Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, and Washington. There are also stores outside the U.S. in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
. Seasonally — primarily during the year-end holiday shopping season — See's also offers its product in select markets in kiosks at malls and other shopping centers.
History
According to the corporate website, Charles Alexander See II (1882–1949) arrived in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1921 with his wife Florence MacLean Wilson See (1885–1956), and his widowed mother Mary Wiseman See (1854–1939). Mary See had developed the recipes that became the foundation of the See's candy business while helping run her husband's hotel on Tremont Island in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. The family opened the first See's Candies shop and kitchen at 135 North Western Avenue in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in November 1921. They had twelve shops by the mid-1920s and thirty shops during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. In 1936 See's opened a shop in San Francisco. In 1972 the See family sold the company to Berkshire Hathaway Inc.. Charles N. Huggins became President and CEO through 2006, and was succeeded by Brad Kinstler. In 2004, following the closing of the original Fannie May candy company of Chicago, the See company expanded into the Chicago area, opening a retail/wholesale store in Downers Grove, Illinois. (Since then Fannie May has reopened some of its stores under new ownership.)
See family
Charles Alexander See II was born in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and came to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1919. He came with his wife, Florence, with whom he had three children: Laurance A. See (1912-?), Margaret M. See (1913-?), and Harry W. See (1921-?), who was born after they arrived in the U.S. By 1920, they were living in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
and Charles A. See II was working as a druggist in a drug store. At some point prior to her death in 1939, matriarch Mary See moved back to Ontario, Canada, where she was born.
Laurance A. See's high-profile divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
from his wife Elizabeth in 1962 resulted in a landmark community property
Community property
Community property is a marital property regime that originated in civil law jurisdictions and is now also found in some common law jurisdictions...
opinion, written by Chief Justice Roger J. Traynor
Roger J. Traynor
Roger John Traynor served as the 23rd Chief Justice of California from 1964 to 1970, and as an Associate Justice from 1940 to 1964...
of the Supreme Court of California
Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
for a unanimous court.