Malley’s Chocolates sells a portion of company, plans to expand to new markets

LAKEWOOD, Ohio (WOIO) - There are some significant changes in the works for the iconic Malley’s Chocolates. 19 News was the first to report that Malley’s sold a portion of the three-generation family business.

Clevelanders don’t need to panic though, you’ll still be able to get your chocolate fix for years to come as will others across the country because the move means Malley’s will be expanding.

“You drive around, and you see the little stickers on the cars like everybody knows Malley’s,” said customer Nicole Truve.

Mike Malley is the CEO of the chocolate business. His grandfather opened the first shop back in 1935 and at first, it was mostly a deli.

“He was a much better chocolatier than he was making corn beef sandwiches so from that it’s just amazing to think that that little storefront through all the generations, through all the hard work of my parents, the second generation, to really see it grow to 19 stores in Cleveland and 88 years,” said Malley. “It’s hard to believe.”

The beloved chocolatiers made a big announcement Tuesday. Malley’s sold a portion of their company to Chicago-based Promise Holdings LLC.

“Oh, we wouldn’t think of anything other than staying in the Cleveland area,” Malley said. “What we’re thinking is this provides us a great opportunity to expand beyond Northeastern Ohio. We’ve got a lot of fans that have moved out of Cleveland, they still come back for the holidays and load up on their chocolates. We ship candy to all 50 states so we’re thinking there’s an opportunity to move beyond the northeastern Ohio footprint.”

Mike Malley and his three other siblings are still the largest shareholders. As far as where Malley’s will open a physical location and next, that’s still up in the air.

Not only is Malley’s staying here in Cleveland all their 250-plus employees have nothing to worry about. This CEO said everyone is keeping their jobs. In fact, they’re even going to be hiring more employees.

“None of the employees are losing their positions if anything we’re gonna be adding more employees, more management personnel, operational expertise to help run the business,” Malley said.

The new partnership will focus on opening more brick-and-mortar Malley’s shops in other markets and on expanding their online shop.

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