Today, the company is a world-recognized brand with a successful retail and wholesale business, selling bagged candy squares and chocolate bars in retail stores, as well as Ghirardelli brand baking chocolate and cocoa. The company also operates ice cream and chocolate boutiques in tourist areas, according to Reference for Business. With its Italian name, one would assume Ghirardelli has roots in "the boot. Domenico Ghirardelli was born in Rapallo, Italy in According to Candy Hall of Fame , an apprenticeship in his teen years introduced Domenico to the confectionery business, and after emigrating to Uruguay at 20, Ghirardelli found work at a store selling chocolate and coffee.

After moving to Lima, Peru a year later, Ghirardelli opened his first chocolate shop. According to the company's history , in , Domenico changed his first name to the Spanish "Domingo. With the chocolate's popularity, Lick encouraged Ghirardelli to come to California and set up a chocolate business. Ghirardelli was a less successful prospector than he was a chocolatier, however, so in , according to company history , he opened a general store in the town of Stockton, and sold supplies and confections to miners.

Domingo soon opened a second store in San Francisco. The company pushed to get its products in more grocery stores and other retail outlets in major markets, particularly in big cities in the Northeast and Midwest.

In November , Ghirardelli announced that it had forged a distribution deal with the Sam's Club food chain, a grocery chain owned by Wal-Mart. This move helped Ghirardelli reach a national market. By , almost half the company's sales were in markets east of the Rocky Mountains, up from just 20 percent when Thomas H.

Lee first acquired Ghirardelli. Ghirardelli had also boosted growth by doubling the number of products it sold, making different food items by It marketed its baking goods in supermarkets by setting up displays, a recipe center, and a toll free customer support line. With increased marketing and distribution, its grocery sales grew at 50 percent annually in the early s. Hicks, Muse was called "one of the most successful LBO [leveraged buyout] artists in the country' by Business Week magazine in a July 1, article.

The firm specialized in a "buy and build' strategy, where it bought up small companies in related areas and ran them together. Jack Anton continued as CEO, and kept the company on its growth course. Ghirardelli's new chairman was C. Dean Metropoulos, who managed food acquisitions for Hicks, Muse.

Hicks, Muse let it be known that it was satisfied with Ghirardelli's present course, which had resulted in annual growth of about 13 percent a year over the past four years. Therefore, the new ownership did not constitute big changes for Ghirardelli. Rather, Hicks, Muse let the company go on with its expansion.

But the relationship with Hicks, Muse was also short-term. Jack Anton maintained his position as president, so despite the quick turnover in ownership in the s, there was continuity in management. Its major markets were Switzerland, Germany, and France. Since , the company had been on an expansion program, and its acquisition of Ghirardelli fulfilled its objective of increasing its share of the North American market.

Lindt brand chocolate had more of a presence in the eastern United States than in the West, so its purchase of Ghirardelli gave it better coverage of the entire country. Lindt announced that it was pleased with Ghirardelli's growth, which had averaged 20 percent annually over the five years preceding the sale, and did not anticipate making major changes. It had grown impressively since Quaker let it go. In the company was still on an expansion track, working on increasing its presence as a national brand by getting more items on supermarket shelves.

It rolled out bagged miniature chocolate squares in March , and announced that it was coming up with more premium chocolate items soon, such as chocolate bars in velvet bags and specialty Christmas treats. Toggle navigation. User Contributions:. Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: Name:. See's Candies. Headquarters: South San Francisco, Calif.

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