Sanders Confectionery

Images of America: Michigan

by Greg Tasker

For more than 130 years, there has been no sweeter word in Detroit than Sanders. The venerable confectioner was once as much a part of Detroit's streetscape as the Big Three, Hudson's, and Coney Islands. Sanders was more than just an ice-cream and candy shop. A Detroit icon, it served a fountain of memories for generations. Detroiters stood two and three deep behind lunch counters for tuna or egg salad sandwiches, devil's food buttercream "bumpy" cake, hot fudge sundaes, and Sanders' signature dessert--hot fudge cream puffs. As Detroit boomed, so did Sanders. At its peak, the company boasted more than 50 stores, with its products available in as many as 200 supermarkets. The Sanders story began in Chicago, where Fred Sanders opened his first shop. A series of misfortunes prompted him to relocate to Detroit, where he began selling his confections on Woodward Avenue. Business grew steadily, and by the early 1900s, he had opened other shops along Woodward and elsewhere in Detroit. The Motor City nearly lost Sanders in the mid-1980s, but its desserts shops have begun resurfacing, thanks to another Detroit institution, Morley Brands LLC, which bought the Sanders brand.

Genres: Photography, Food

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2006

About the author

Editor and writer in the Greater Detroit Area, specializing in travel writing and editing, automotive, Michigan companies, and features.

A professional journalist with extensive writing and editing experience, Tasker currently works as travel blogger, Drive editor, and Assistant business editor at The Detroit News.
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Reviews

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

With ancestral roots in Detroit, Sanders Bumpy Cake is an important part of every holiday and celebration in my family. It was interesting to learn about the company behind one of my favorite family traditions.

[Laura K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Nostalgic. I worked at Sanders when I was In high school, and I recognized a.lot of the items and some of the stores. I actually looked up some of the addresses on Google maps. Sadly, none of the buildings that I searched are still standing.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I picked this book up I didn't realize it was really just a collection of photographs with only about 5 pages written about the history of Sanders. I found the most interesting section to be the collection of menus from throughout the years - In the 1930s they offered "prunes in cream" for breakfast. The saddest part was seeing the photos of Woodward Avenue in Detroit as a bustling shopping location - so different from today.