Beloved Candy Factory Converted Into Arguably Less Magical Amazon Delivery Center

Remember Necco? The New England Confectionery Company was, until its swift closure in 2018, the oldest continually operating candy maker in the country, founded in 1901 but formed from existing companies that dated back to 1847. Necco was saved from oblivion by Ohio-based Spangler Candy Co.—or at least its Necco Wafer and Sweethearts products were (Necco's Sky Bar was sold off separately)—and all of the equipment needed for making the conversation hearts and wafers was shipped from the Necco factory in Revere, Massachusetts, to its new home in Bryan, Ohio. Now, the Revere factory building has a new tenant: Amazon, which is converting the factory into a delivery center.

According to the Associated Press, Amazon plans to use the 800,000-square-foot facility to gather orders that arrive from its larger regional distribution centers and sort the packages for delivery. When Necco shuttered in 2018, around 200 factory workers were laid off; with the opening of this new delivery center, Amazon announced it will employ right around 200 people. The AP notes that Massachusetts had the highest unemployment rate in the country last month (approximately 17%) and that Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo praised the new facility for boosting the local economy.