{{No footnotes, date=August 2011 Charles-chips-van

Charles Chips is an American maker of snack foods, especially

potato chips A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or ap ...

. It was known for home and office delivery of its products in distinctive tins. They were known for their signature sales slogan, "Chippin' it!".

History

The company was started in 1942 when Effie Musser sold her potato chips through a distributor, who put them in distinctive tins, and named them Charles Chips after Charles Street in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Effie and her husband soon took over the business and by 1946, moved production to a professional kitchen. They started offering home delivery of their chips, and added pretzels and cookies. In 1974, the

business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, soci ...

of home delivery became more challenging. The company made a strategic move to develop retail packaging and market their products into grocery and convenience stores. In 1979, Charles Chips began distribution into the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

market from the Calhoun, KY plant. In 1984, Charles Chips completed construction of a state-of-the-art pretzel and corn based snack production facility in Mountville, PA. In 1990, the company had wholesale revenue in excess of $45 million. In 1991, the Mussers sold Charles Chips to a group of investors from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. This new company went bankrupt 18 months later. In 1993, Charles Chips was acquired by a popcorn company from

Tampa, FL Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Count ...

. They too went bankrupt about 18 months later. In 1996, Hillside Snacks in North Arlington, NJ acquired the Charles Chips trademark and started marketing Charles Chips under a different recipe. In early 2011, the Scardino family bought the brand, with plans to bring back the original recipes and the tins. They now sell chips, pretzels, and cookies from their website.

References

"Snack company passed through a number of owners: Charles Chips struggled against fierce competition"
from ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its ...

''
"The Great Potato Chip Debate"
an
"Charles Chips on Comeback Trail"
from ''

Lancaster New Era LNP Media Group owns and publishes '' LNP'', a daily newspaper based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and ''LancasterOnline'', its online affiliate with monthly readership of over one million. ''LNP'' traces its roots to ''The Lancaster Journal ...

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"Chips Co. Still Delivers"
from '' The Harlan Daily Enterprise''
"Tampa company to buy Charles Chips"
from ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

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"It's crunch time for Charles Chips - New owners say successful turnaround has a way to go "
from ''

Intelligencer Journal The ''Intelligencer Journal'', known locally as the ''Intell'', was the daily, morning newspaper published by Lancaster Newspapers, Inc in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It is the 7th oldest newspaper in the United States and was one of the oldest news ...

''
"The Crunchy Sound of Nostalgia"
from '' South Florida Business Journal''. Food and drink companies of the United States Brand name snack foods