One of the best known names in American candy is pulling back from a city where its story began. Mars, the maker of M&Ms and a host of other well known brands, is preparing to close its office in Newark, New Jersey, a decision that will put more than 300 people out of work. The move marks the end of a chapter for a company whose roots in the city stretch back generations.
The scale of the cuts came into focus through an official filing. A WARN notice submitted to New Jersey's Department of Labor and Workforce Development laid out that the closure will eliminate more than 300 jobs, the kind of formal warning that employers are required to give when a large number of positions are set to be lost. The paperwork turned what might have been quiet corporate planning into a matter of public record.
The timeline for the shutdown is already set. According to the notice, the closure of the Newark office is expected to take place in October, giving the affected workers a window before their jobs come to an end. For those employees, the coming months will bring the difficult task of preparing for life after the office winds down.
What gives the closure an added weight is the history tied to the location. It was in Newark that Mars produced its very first M&Ms, back in 1941, at a time when the now iconic candies were created to serve a very different purpose. The chocolates were made as rations for the military during World War II, a practical origin for a treat that would go on to become a household staple.
The office that is now closing was itself a return to those roots. After decades away, Mars had come back to Newark to open this office in 2020, reestablishing a presence in the city that had helped launch one of its signature products. That homecoming will now prove short lived, with the site set to close just a few years after it reopened.
Even so, the company has sought to make clear that it is not walking away from New Jersey entirely. Mars says it will continue its manufacturing work in the state, including at its operations in Hackettstown, and it has stressed that it remains committed to New Jersey. The message drew a line between the closing of the Newark office and the company's broader footprint across the state.
For Newark, the loss of more than 300 jobs is a tangible blow, even as the company points to the work it will keep elsewhere. The closure leaves those employees waiting to learn what comes next, and it brings to a close a presence in a city that Mars once chose, both in wartime and again in recent years, as a place to build.