Hickory Farms to Close Last 18 Mall Stores

Hickory Farms, built around seasonal sales of beef sticks and cheese trays, will close its remaining 18 shopping mall stores to focus on catalog and Internet sales. The privately held specialty food company will operate temporary stores and kiosks in malls during the holidays. The Hickory Farms chain once operated 550 stores, mainly in malls in the U.S. and Canada. But over the last two decades, mall sales have dropped steadily. Its remaining 18 year-round stores will close by the end of March. The Maumee, Ohio-based company has had more success with selling its products in grocery stores, big retail outlets and on the Net.