If you can remember the last time you ate a Clark Bar, savor it.
It could have been your last one.
The Clark Bar has been around for more than 100 years, created in 1917 by the Irish immigrant and Pittsburgh candy maker David L. Clark. Now the chocolate-covered, crunchy peanut butter concoction could be in danger of melting away for good.
In March, the New England Confectionery Co. — founded in 1847 and maker of the Clark Bar since buying the recipe and equipment at a Pittsburgh bankruptcy auction in 1999 that ended hometown production — announced it could shut down in early May unless it finds a buyer.
The potential demise of the oldest continually-operated candy manufacturer in the country puts other nostalgic favorites besides the Clark Bar in jeopardy. They include Sweethearts conversation hearts, Mary Janes, Candy Buttons and the company’s namesake Necco Wafers — variously described by critics as tasting like plaster, drywall and flavored chalk — with a loyal, if questionable, following.
The news that the iconic Revere, Mass., candy maker could close its doors has caused panic buying of sorts among candy retailers and consumers who fear losing their beloved Clark Bars and other sweet treats.
“I’ve never seen anything like this, a mad rush like this,” said Jon H. Prince, president of CandyFavorites.com and the McKeesport Candy Co. on Fifth Avenue in McKeesport.
His wholesale business — founded in 1927 by his grandfather, who was a friend of David L. Clark’s — has been handling hundreds of calls in recent weeks from people hoping to stockpile the endangered candy.
Initially, most of the calls were for Necco Wafers.
“But now, it’s Clark Bars, Sky Bars, anything that says Necco on it,” Mr. Prince said.
“Today, I probably got 30 calls about Clark Bars,” he said one day early last week. “That’s a lot of calls.”
Mr. Prince said that while many people think of Clark Bars as a regional favorite in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio, they sell well throughout the eastern U.S., including in New York and Washington, D.C.
For now, he has a “healthy” inventory of Clark Bars, but wonders how long that will last.
“One person offered to buy all the Clark Bars I have left,” Mr. Prince said.
To be fair, he’s limiting each customer to five (24-count) boxes.
At Candystore.com, based in Los Angeles, orders for Necco brand candy overall zoomed 50 percent since news broke March 12 about the troubled candy maker, spokesman Tom Carter said. Sales of the Clark Bar are up 35 percent, he said.
Among the desperate customers was one high school student with the last name Clark.
“He runs for class president and hands out Clark Bars,” Mr. Carter said. “He said he needs to stock up on them now because he still has one more year of campaigning.”
As for Necco Wafers, they have have been “flying off the shelves,” Mr. Carter said. “It’s been intense. A lot of people are excited to try to get them, but upset they might be going away.”
Candystore.com’s blog site reported getting an offer from one passionate customer to trade her 2003 Honda Accord for the company’s entire inventory of Necco Wafers. The company declined, selling her two boxes instead.
The big question right now is how long Candystore.com and other bulk sellers can keep refilling their supply.
“Will another order come in, and will it be a full order? They might short everyone to try to please everyone,” Mr. Carter said.
Calls to Necco headquarters last week, including a call to CEO Michael McGee, weren’t returned.
The company gave the state a 60-day notice on March 6 of the potential for nearly 400 job losses, noting that the business “has been in ongoing negotiations with potential buyers to allow for its continued operations.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Prince, a Clark Bar devotee who has been in the candy business since 1989, contemplated losing “a handful of the greatest classics of all times.”
Old-fashioned candy is special to many people because it’s an inexpensive way to connect with their childhoods and the past, he said.
“We tend to take nostalgic products for granted,” Mr. Prince said. “Now, candies that are retro are starting to disappear.
“It’s very sad.”
Patricia Sabatini: PSabatini@post-gazette.com; 412-263-3066.
First Published: April 16, 2018, 11:30 a.m.
