CHERRY HILL - The iconic Bayard's Chocolate House on Route 70 is now part of South Jersey history.

Bayard's parent company, saltwater taffy-maker James Candy, permanently closed te store on Friday.

The move comes months after James Candy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization .

After the November filing, Chief Operating Officer Lisa Whitley said the family-owned company had no plans for closures, and described the reorganization as a "proactive" decision coming off a couple of tough seasons at the shore.

But that stance changed as the company analyzed its overall strategy and financial future.

"Over the last 4 months, our company has been executing a turnaround plan and we’ve seen progress,” Frank Glaser, CEO and President of James Candy Company, said in a news release. “However, for a variety of reasons that progress is not evenly distributed and, as a result, we have decided to close long-term, underperforming stores.”

Bayard's Cinnaminson store on Route 130 will remain open, and the company, which also owns the Fralinger's saltwater taffy brand, said it doesn’t expect any further store closures in the foreseeable future.

"But this is an ongoing assessment," Whitley said via email.

Glaser told the Courier-Post in 2006 that he'd paid "in excess of $2 million" for Bayard's Chocolates locations in South Jersey. At the time, that included a Pennsauken factory, which was closed after James Candy consolidated manufacturing operations in Atlantic City.

Bayard's was launched in 1939 when James Bayard Kelly II started selling homemade chocolate from scratch. Kelly's son was the one who introduced chocolate "houses" for shoppers.

The Kelly family opened Bayard's Chocolate House on Route 70 in the early 1960s, Whitley said.

Many remember girls and young women standing by the Bayard's sign on Route 70 in Cherry Hill to wave at passing drivers. At Christmastime, the "wavers" sat in a sleigh for a holiday touch.

Over the years, South Jersey residents incorporated Bayard's Chocolates into their family traditions. Here are some treasured memories of Courier-Post readers:

"When I moved to Camden and went down Route 70 I saw this big house with a chocolate sign and I'm a chocoholic so I went in. It was like a chocolate heaven! That was more than 20 years ago and I now take my kids and they bring me Bayard's, my friends bring me Bayard's and my husband knows to only bring me Bayard's! I will miss them, they are unique and will be in my heart forever!"

— Shelley McCullough

" For my family, Bayard's chocolate mint bark was a holiday tradition and shared at every special event. I bought it for teachers and neighbors as a small treat for the holidays, including Thanksgiving.

My mother would buy the two-pound box for every wedding or baby shower as an added delight for her guests.

When I had my twins in 1993, Bayard's Chocolate Mint Bark arrived at Jefferson Hospital as a congratulatory gift.

Since their new ownership, the chocolate mint bark was not always available. Every Christmas, I would have to visit Bayard's earlier to secure some chocolate mint bark.

I branched out to other products too. Their beautiful gift baskets were always made with so many unique decorated plates and sleighs. I treated myself to one this past Christmas. A beautiful red shiny sleigh with two wrapped boxes of Bayard's mixed chocolates.. ​​​​​​​

Their chocolate-covered animal crackers were another huge hit for the younger crowd. ​​​​​​​

The staff was always so pleasant and I would see Jane there, who was the sweetest elderly woman, always smiling and happy to wrap your boxes.

Growing up in Cherry Hill from the early 1960s, Bayard's was my go-to place. It will truly be missed by my family and me. My sister would drive an hour from Pennsylvania for a visit to Bayard's to share their chocolate with her family.

Bayard's has been a Cherry Hill landmark for so many of us living in the area."

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ — Susan Chesluk Emerle, ​​​​​​​ Barrington

"When my brother and I were little, in the '70s and '80s, our parents would take us to Bayard's for our Easter candy, and we would get things for our grandmom, too. I remember thinking it was so strange to sell candy in someone’s house. I was convinced that the Bayard family lived upstairs in the house, which was always off-limits.

It was always so busy around the holidays. The store would be jammed, and workers would get the candy for you – you couldn’t touch it in the trays, but it was also so inviting. The candy girls always seemed so happy and friendly. I remember thinking that being a Bayard’s candy girl would be the best job ever.



Now, my brother and I take our kids there as part of our Christmas and Easter traditions. The “take a ticket” stand is still there, but there is hardly ever anyone in front of us in line. But in my heart, it’s still the same. The rows of boxed candy as you walk in! The smell of the store! The vanilla butter creams! The coconut cream eggs! The almond butter crunch! Those huge chocolate bunnies! I remember being so excited to get chocolate Easter bunnies from Bayard's. I’d wait all year for it. There was nothing like it.



Easter won't be the same without Bayards and their huge inflatable pink bunnies outside their store."

— Maria Pownall

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