See's has been selling fresh chocolates and other candies for nearly a century in its stores with the checkerboard motif - and the company is still opening new locations. A licensee also opened the first See's in New York in March.

There are now 250 See’s locations in 17 states, including about 150 in California. But See's, which will sell between $400m and $450m of candy this year, also is tapping into the growth of online shopping; customers can order most of its products on See's revamped website.

Since 1972, the company has been part of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the conglomerate led by billionaire Warren Buffett.

The first See’s store was opened in Los Angeles in 1921 by a trio of Canadian immigrants: Charles See, his wife, Florence, and his mother, Mary.

That grandmotherly face on See’s trademark black-and-white boxes belongs to Mary See, and her recipes were the foundation of the operation.

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