Last call at the 130-year-old Govatos Chocolates store in Delaware
Owner of Govatos Chocolate says the business has brought joy to the family
Govatos Chocolate in Talleyville will close at the end of this week. The company has been in business in Delaware for 130 years. 08/28/24
The chocolate came out faster than Nick Govatos ever expected.
When the owner of Govatos Chocolates, a Delaware landmark, announced on social media that he would be permanently closing his business at the end of August after 130 years of his family providing nostalgic sweets to the state’s residents (and beyond), Govatos didn’t expect the kind of reaction he received.
“When I first announced it, people were lined up out the door,” Nick Govatos said Wednesday morning, standing alone in the candy store near Concord Pike in the Talleyville Shopping Center, which still smells faintly of chocolate despite its low inventory.
“People show us their respect,” he said. “We are an institution in the state and I only recently realized that.”
It’s not over until it’s over
The candy store’s glass cases, normally overflowing with toasted coconut chips, buttercreams, gooey caramels, chocolate-covered maraschino cherries and champagne truffles, are now nearly empty.
Govatos said he was still making small batches of chocolate at the downtown Wilmington chocolate factory early Wednesday morning and late into Wednesday evening.
He knows that customers want to enjoy the last remaining flavors of Govatos candies.
But now it’s last call at the candy store. Nick Govatos expects to permanently close the Talleyville location, which has been in operation since 1979, once all the candy is sold. He said the last day could be Friday or perhaps even early Saturday. Hours are from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The store’s distinctive white boxes, which read “Govatos, the taste of tradition,” tell a lot about the importance of this candy maker to Delawareans. The warm memories of longtime customers say the rest.
“We brought Govatos Candy with us to every major event, every holiday, and every out-of-town visit,” posted one long-time customer on Facebook.
Kathleen Piendak said Govatos candy first came into her life when her mother filled her Easter basket with Govatos chocolate and their hummingbird egg confectionery.
“I liked the idea of continuing the tradition,” she said.
Piendak and her husband started an annual Easter egg hunt with their stepchildren and their stepchildren’s children in 2009 and now host one for their grandchildren’s children. “We’ve had floppy-eared bunnies, motorcycle bunnies, roosters, Cupie dolls, crosses, hollow Easter eggs and black walnut eggs. Too many to list,” Piendak said.
“Easter will never be the same if Govatos isn’t the centerpiece of every Easter basket,” she said.
Saying so long is not easy
Customers traveled from all three counties of Delaware, as well as New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Virginia, to visit the candy store, personally thank Govatos and say goodbye.
The stories they tell him are usually the same: Govatos chocolate was given for holidays like Halloween, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Boxes were given for celebrations like weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and graduations.
For many, Govatos chocolates were the preferred party favors and thank you boxes to provide comfort to friends or family members who were mourning the death of a loved one or recovering from health crises.
Actors, artists and musicians in the Playhouse Theatre of the Hotel du Pont were given Govatos candies after the performances.
Nick Govatos said he even received an email from a customer telling him that he always gives away a box of Govatos chocolates to woo a new girlfriend and now he has no replacement.
“The taste of tradition”
Govatos Chocolates is a third-generation family business. John Govatos, a Greek immigrant, founded the family business in 1894 when he opened a store on the corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets in Wilmington. He initially sold his products under the name “Queen Elizabeth Chocolates.”
After changing its name in 1898, Govatos Chocolates & Luncheonette moved twice more within the city. The last stop and Wilmington branch, which opened in about 1915, was on the corner of Eighth and Market Streets.
The building’s third floor was used to make chocolates and other confectionery. The diner, known for its filling sandwiches, soups and homemade Greek rice pudding, went out of business several years ago. The Wilmington location, which still sold candy, closed its doors during the pandemic and never reopened.
Brothers Nicholas and Richard Jr. have continued the family tradition of candy making for the past 50 years, but Richard retired several years ago due to health issues. Nick, who continued on his own, decided in early August that he, too, was ready to call it a day.
Govatos uses old-fashioned methods and recipes passed down for three generations to make its popular handmade chocolates and sweets. There were never any shortcuts and the painstaking work could be exhausting.
“Let’s be honest: I don’t want to be lifting copper kettles when I’m 80,” says Nick Govatos of the huge, heavy bowls used to make the sticky caramel that was used to coat the apples every fall.
Govatos said the candy store would also be closed because the fourth generation of the family had no interest in continuing it.
“There is no one to pass it on to,” he said. “Every child has his own interests.”
Govatos plans to sell the candy-making machinery, supplies and century-old chocolate molds to other longtime chocolate makers. For now, he’s holding on to the 1800s-era building in downtown Wilmington and has no immediate plans to sell it.
“I don’t make hasty decisions,” Govatos said.
Last call for chocolate
The waning days of the business and the candid stories told by regular customers have made the usually stoic Govatos emotional. Customers who came in have shed tears, he said, and in recent days he has been constantly teary-eyed. “It’s heartbreaking and a beautiful thing.”
On Wednesday morning, Ken Rosenberg, a longtime customer who shopped at the candy store in downtown Wilmington, stopped at the Talleyville location to buy several boxes of chocolates as gifts. Prices were drastically slashed, with 1-pound boxes costing $27. Rosenberg bought four and a couple of empty 2-pound souvenir boxes that were selling for $4.95.
“It’s a good memory,” Rosenberg said of the empty boxes, which feature drawings of classic Delaware landmarks such as the Rockford Tower, the Delaware Memorial Bridge, Rodney Square and Old Swedes Church.
“I can put other chocolates in it, but it won’t be the same,” he said.
Rosenberg said when he heard Govatos was closing for good, he knew he had to stop by the store one more time. “I’m a fan of tradition and this is heartbreaking.”
Nick Govatos said he doesn’t have any big plans for retirement yet, but he knows what he’ll do when he sells his last box of chocolates and closes a 130-year chapter in Delaware’s restaurant history.
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“I go home, drink a Guinness, eat some potato chips and watch a movie. And I think, ‘I don’t have to be anywhere,'” he said.
Patricia Talorico writes about food and restaurants. You can find her on Instagram, X And on facebook.e-mail [email protected]. Sign up for them Delaware Eats newsletter.
