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Beloved Buffalo candy-maker closed its factory and stores. Online sales exploded

The company was founded in 1910 and sold in 1993 to Ted Marks, who watched his employee base grow from six to 60 employees before the coronavirus shutdown.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Heading into late March, Fowler's Chocolates Inc. owner Ted Marks had a decision to make.

The fourth-generation candy maker was heading into one of his top events of the year, the Easter season. As a food manufacturer, his business was deemed essential, meaning he was allowed to continue producing.

But as the coronavirus pandemic tightened its grip on Western New York, Marks decided to act on behalf of his employees' safety. He shuttered the factory and two of his five retail locations on March 20, turning the Hamburg, Cheektowaga and Tonawanda stories into in-store pickup options.

He expected a major hit. Then online sales exploded.  For more on this story, please visit the Buffalo Business First website.

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