Wyandotte Sanders store to close this week
Stores still operating are located in Clinton Township, Rochester and Mackinac Island
The Sanders store in downtown Wyandotte is set to permanently shut down.
After 16 years as a favorite place for Downriver residents to gather for a sweet treat with family and friends, the store will close at the end of the business day on Thursday.
For many, Sanders was more than simply a place that sold ice cream and chocolate. The brand with Detroit roots holds generations of memories that harken back to a simpler time.
Sanders Chocolate & Ice Cream Shoppe, 3042 Biddle Ave., is part of a classic national brand that features premium chocolates, dessert toppings and baked goods, using original recipes that date to before the 19th century.
Founder Fred Sanders Schmidt (commonly known as Fred Sanders) opened his first chocolate shoppe in Detroit on June 17, 1875.
By the 1940s and 1950s, Sanders products and chocolate shoppes grew tremendously in popularity. According to information about the company’s history found on the Sanders Candy website, it soon became the leading source of confections in the region and started selling directly to national supermarket chains, as well as to other retailers in the Detroit area.
At its height, there were more than 57 locations in the Great Lakes region that
offered chocolate candies, ice cream, dessert toppings and baked goods.
The company states that those early shoppes also were known for providing light lunches and an assortment of fountain counter specialties that included ice cream sodas, hot fudge sundaes and the famous Sanders hot fudge cream puffs.
But the world is a much different place in 2022.
Second Nature Brands, which includes metro-Detroit-based Kar’s Nuts, Second Nature Snacks and Sanders Chocolates, was purchased by a London private equity firm last April.
As it turned out, new ownership by the private
equity firm spelled trouble for the independently owned Wyandotte Sanders store.
Thomas Hervey, owner of the local store, said that when he bought it in 2006, ownership of the brand was completely different from what it is now.
“The equity group out of London, England, discontinued too many products,” Hervey said. “Most recently, they discontinued all of their ice cream toppings and that was the last straw for me. I made the difficult decision to close the store.”
He said he didn’t want to do it, but felt that he had little choice. He slowly started to reduce his inventory so that he wouldn’t
be left with a lot of product after he shut down, which may have clued in some of his customers that something was going on behind the scenes.
Hervey confirmed their suspicions on Saturday when he placed a sign on the front door announcing that Dec. 22 would be the store’s last day in business.
“Everyone is kind of devastated,” he said. “The southeast Michigan area has grown up with this brand — it has literally been a part of their lives. It has become a tradition. It is very sad for everyone, myself included. I felt honored and blessed to have this store in the Downriver area.”
According to Hervey, some customers have been choking up in the store when talking about their fond memories of Sanders.
“It’s a shame they don’t recognize this at corporate,” he said.
The closing of the Wyandotte store follows a recent trend. Hervey said that after the COVID-19 lockdown, the company never reopened four of its corporate stores. Other stores still operating are located in Clinton Township, Rochester and Mackinac Island. Hervey said only the Wyandotte and Mackinac Island stores are independently owned and operated.
Although the Sanders store in Wyandotte was the first business for Hervey and his wife, Julianne, he was no stranger to ice cream. The Allen Park native, who now lives in Flat Rock, sold ice cream as his very first job. His parents owned a Stroh’s Ice Cream Parlor in the 1970s and 1980s.
For now, Hervey and his family are going to take a break by going on a “real vacation,” something he said he hasn’t done during the 16 years he has owned the Wyandotte store. He said he’ll spend some quality time with his wife and new grandbaby before deciding his next move.
John Truitt is one of those devastated customers that Hervey referred to.
News of the store’s closure brought back a flood of memories for the Wyandotte resident.
“Sanders and Sanders hot fudge toppings and bumpy cake have been part of every family gathering — the birthdays, weddings and funerals for all of my 60 years,” he said. “Walking into Sanders this past Saturday to pick up holiday supplies, I was greeted with empty shelves, and the sad signs that the store will be closing. Silly as it may seem, it was like hearing the news of the passing of a friend.”
One of the memories that news of the closure triggered for Truitt was his very first memory of Sanders, seated at the counter of the store at Eastland Mall with his grandmother, mother, brother and sister. He said his grandma, mom and brother are gone now, so these are memories he holds dear.
“Now that the ‘toppings’ are no longer available and other treats are disappearing from production, this store, other Sanders stores and perhaps the brand itself will become history,” Truitt said. “Corporate equity groups messing with a brand that has been a part of their way of life since 1875 — is nothing sacred? Time will tell.
“I thank Tom and his family, who have been the sweetest part of our downtown for the last 16 years, and wish them all the best as they take a long vacation to regroup.”
Because the Wyandotte store is independently owned, Second Nature Brands said they did not have anything to do with Hervey’s decision to close the store.
“The Sanders Shoppe location in Wyandotte has for many years been owned and operated independently,” said Jennifer Bauer, chief marketing officer of Second Nature Brands. “Any decision about the future of the store would be made by the owner.”