000212 Hickory Farms to Close Mall StoresFebruary 12, 2000Maumee, OH - Hickory Farms, built around seasonal sales of beef sticks and cheese trays, will close its remaining 18 shopping mall stores to focus on catalog and Internet sales. The specialty food store still will operate temporary stores and kiosks in malls during the holidays. The Hickory Farms chain once included 550 stores mainly in shopping malls in the United States and Canada. During the past two decades, sales dropped steadily. Its remaining 18 year-round stores will be closed by the end of March. The suburban Toledo-based company has had more success with selling its products in grocery stores and in big retail stores such as Wal-Mart and Target. “Our Internet sales doubled last year,” Geoff Smith, vice president of Hickory Farms' retail division, said Monday. “And our wholesale business -- selling core products to all the major grocery and supermarket chains -- has really taken off in a big way.” The company plans to increase the number of kiosks and temporary stores in malls later this year. It had 1,200 such outlets last year, which accounted for more than 50% of the company's annual income.
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