At first, he and his wife crafted handmade chocolates in their kitchen before opening a chocolate shop Canal Street in 1860. In 1919, they moved to the large plant building at 40th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard.
By 1920 Loft Candy Company became the largest retail company in United States and the company also the first retail candy store chain in America. Based in Long Island City, New York, the Loft Candy Company was a publicly held company with a $13 million candy and restaurant chain.
The company manufactured its own candies, syrups and beverages.
In 1930 the company acquired other candy retailer, the Happiness Stores and Mirror Stores in New Jersey. The combined operation owned 175 candy shop, soda fountain and tearooms.
The Loft Candy Company acquired Pepsi-Cola in 1931 and it was later merged into PepsiCo.
By 1941 Philadelphia business man Albert M. Greenfield (1887-1967) had acquired Loft Company through his business, the City Stores Corporation. He expanded Loft’s operation outside the New York area.
By 1985 it was down to just 40 stores in the New York area. The smaller company did not proper, went out of business and by the 1990s all the shops had closed.
Loft Candy Company
