Watson’s Chocolates

Specialties

Sponge Candy, Chocolate, Handmade confections, Candy

History

Established in 1946.

In 1946, two brothers, Louis and John Watson, and their respective wives, Ellen and Mary, began making chocolates in the back room of their soda fountain and luncheonette on Delaware Avenue in Kenmore, NY. Using old-​fashioned methods and recipes shared by their relatives, Watsons quickly established a reputation for producing fine confections, albeit on a very limited scale. Whatever was produced was immediately sold in the front of their restaurant.

Demand for the chocolates continued through the years. In 1987, Lou and Ellen’s son Jim, who had joined the family business in 1971, decided to take over the chocolate part of the company, adding new retail and production facilities. With the addition of Jim’s daughter, Whitney into the company in 1993, the Watson’s Chocolates product line was greatly expanded, and five more stores were opened, bringing the total number of retail locations to eight.