Driving down South Limit on the way to work this morning I noticed the Russell Stover Candy and Ice Cream sign all blacked out and a dumpster along the side of the building. It looks like the end has come for the Russell Stover Candy and Ice Cream store.

A sign on the door pretty much told me, and anyone else who dropped by all they needed about the stores closure.

Rob Creighton / Townsquare Media
Rob Creighton / Townsquare Media
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I had always wanted to try some ice cream from the store. It's been my experience that ice cream from a chocolate maker is usually pretty good. That said, I never made it to the store to do that. It was always on my "some afternoon when I need a treat I'll stop by and check it out" list. It looks like I can check that off my list.

Conventional wisdom would dictate that this might be a closing related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But, I'm not so sure.

Working on this article I did a search on the Sedalia Russell Stover store. An interesting article popped up from the Springfield News Leader talking about how the Springfield store was closing in late April as part of corporate restructuring. A spokesperson for the candy company told the newspaper that the candy company was looking to focus on it's internet business, not brick and mortar stores. So the closure could have been planned as part of the restructuring.

Rob Creighton / Townsquare Meida
Rob Creighton / Townsquare Meida
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I reached out to Russell Stover for a statement and they confirmed that yes, the store was closed due to corporate restructuring. Russell Stover is not planning on opening another store in the Sedalia area at this time. The statement Russell Stover provided me via email is printed below in it's entirety:

Based on changes in purchasing patterns and behavior of our consumers, we have made a series of organizational changes to our Russell Stover retail network.   We continually review our operations to ensure we remain competitive and are positioned for success, which sometimes requires adjusting our business approach.  In January we made the decision to implement some organizational changes which resulted in the closure of our Sedalia, MO retail location as of April 24. Decisions like this are never easy and we deeply value our employees and the communities we serve, which is why we committed to providing affected employees the support they needed during this transition, including enhanced severance benefits and outplacement services to pursue new career opportunities. We do not currently have plans to open in another location at this time, but are constantly assessing potential locations and truly appreciate the support the Sedalia community has provided over the years.

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