CLEVELAND — Malley’s Chocolates, a Northeast Ohio staple since 1935, will be laying off employees amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The decision impacts more than 300 employees. Malley’s CEO Mike Malley said they have every intention of calling back employees when it is safe to do so.
"We came to this conclusion just because we didn’t feel like we had enough guidance as to when we think we could safely open with keeping safe social distancing at all of our retail shops,” Malley said.
The company had shuttered it’s factory on Brookpark Road in mid-March and closed all retail shops. Employees were paid through March 31st.
Malley’s has recently seen a surge in online orders. A notice on their website warns customers their shipments may be delayed by three to four business days. The company is using inventory from closed retail locations to fulfill online orders.
The call center and fulfillment center will remain open on a day-to-day basis.
Since the factory closed, the company is not producing any chocolates or candies.
When operations resume, Malley says it will take a couple of days to get the facility back up to full-production.
The Easter holiday season is one of the companies busiest time of year.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Read our daily Coronavirus Live Blog for the latest updates and news on coronavirus.
We're Open! Northeast Ohio is place created by News 5 to open us up to new ways of thinking, new ways of gathering and new ways of supporting each other.
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Ohio, a timeline of Governor Mike DeWine's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Northeast Ohio, and link to more information from the Ohio Department of Health, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
Here is everything you need to know about testing for coronavirus in Ohio.
Here's a list of things in Northeast Ohio closed due to coronavirus concerns
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
