Could Clark Bars Be Doomed?

PITTSBURGH, PA - You might want to quickly head down to your local candy store and stock up on Clark candy bars. The confection conceived in Pittsburgh more than a century ago might not be around much longer.

The Massachusetts-based New England Confectionery Company, which now manufactures the candy bar, has said it might have to close its plant and lay off its workers if a buyer for the company can’t be found. The shutdown could come as soon as this month.

The threat has prompted people to begin hoarding Necco wafers, the company’s namesake product. Necco also makes Mary Janes, Sky Bars and the popular Valentine’s Day candy, Sweethearts.

But southwestern Pennsylvania residents undoubtedly are most concerned about the Clark bars, which originated in Pittsburgh in 1886 along with the D.L. Clark Candy Company and remain popular here today.

“They’re still among our top 5 best sellers,” said Dick Stephens, owner of the S&S Candy & Cigar Company on the South Side.

Consisting of a crispy peanut butter-base core covered with milk chocolate, Clark bars were manufactured for decades in a cavernous North Side building. Today the building houses offices (it once was home to the late Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper) and an aptly-named tavern called the Clark Bar & Grill.

The Clark bars have had several different corporate owners over the years. They’ve been manufactured by Necco since 1999.

Stephens says Clark bars are consistent best-sellers here in Pittsburgh, with a strong sales spike occurring each year as Halloween approaches.

“People still buy Clark bars because they think they’re doing something good for Pittsburgh,” Stephens said. “We don’t even tell them anymore that they aren’t made here anymore.”

Unless a buyer emerges soon for Necco, they soon might not be made anywhere.

Image via Necco.