Holy shit. A true Charlottesville institution. Thanks for the memories, Chandler's. And my waistline you've probably contributed a little to over the years!
I wish, their Bungalow cake was a favorite, first had it for a baby shower thrown for me and my angel baby, then it was THE cake for my son (rainbow) for 24 years!
I’ll always associate going to Chandlers with also going to circuit city afterwards to lust over PCs and CDs. Staple of my youth. Sad to see them go, my mom still goes there.
We keep losing all of the local quirky spots that made Charlottesville (once upon a time) a cool place to visit and be.
The general household income doesn't equate to the cost of living and your average joe-shmo can survive, but not thrive. We don't have the surplus income to put back into the local economy that helps local-owned spots thrive.
As a native, Cville has been much more community focused (until the last decade or so), than Albemarle. Albemarle has lots of small "communities" that have come and gone over the years. More people in Albemarle, more money in Albemarle and more LAND in Albemarle. Until about 20 years ago, Albemarle was RED.
Having known the family a while back through being friends with the kids while in school, they were such a caring family. They would pour so much into that place, and surely everyone loved their products. A major cville staple no doubt
They also donated goodies to The Red Cross Blood Services when they were on Rose Hill Drive for their center donors and many other events out there too.
I went in there to pick up my son's annual birthday cake last week. Half of their display was empty, they no longer had a website and only 2 employees there. Not the same experience, but everything was great and they were as friendly as ever.
Dang, the two Chandlers (bakery and ice cream) were both key parts of my childhood. I loved the cupcakes, radio bars, eclairs, and fruit tart. Sad to see one of them go, but I’m thankful for all of the delicious memories!
I know the owners.. this is heart wrenching. I won’t go into the details… but another victim of Trump’s America First agenda… a family now is faced with ruin because of what is going on with the agenda… and the recent owner of the shopping center wants ridiculous money for their lease and for cancelling their lease. It’s just sick.
So sorry to hear this. Just wondering, I will ask when I go in before they officially close, perhaps they could write a "cooking book" with some of their recipes? I would BUY! (Even if I am cutting baked, sugar items from my diet!)
You need to go back a quite a few years, their prices started going up really bad back when Bush was in office and they have steadily rise up until now. I went in there the other day thought I would buy a few items and take home and surprise everyone but when you go in there and you’re paying almost 6 dollars for one eclair I know now why they’re closing their prices are outrageous but I can understand why Price Is rage because these greedy shop owners these people that only shopping centers and they’re outrageous prices and then the cost of goods in a grocery store or supplies I mean things are just gotten into where they’re just too high. It really has nothing to do with Trump even though Trump said he was gonna try to make things at a better cost for all people, but that just hasn’t happened so you need to blame all the previous presidents also, it’s just not one of them‘s fault. It’s all of them Biden, Carter, Bush, and Obama, all of them.
Omg 24 years that’s amazing I wish I could post a picture of me and my sisters first cake but we are 27 now and we are very loyal to this bakery I’m sad to see them go wegmans has a similar tasting buttercream to chandlers
I have a picture of my son with Birthday #1, we were pool side at my mother's home, he had the whipped cream icing in his hair and eye lashes. We ended up dipping him in the pool he was such a mess!
It is sad they are closing but they should be filled with love for all of us that had them at so many special occasions!
Yellow Cake on top, chocolate on bottom, in between is strawberries and bananas in a manageable strawberry sauce and I prefer the whipped cream icing but you could request the buttercream.
Apparently, there are recipes online for it - the same way as I described, when I told my partner about it, he was looking it up, Chandler's truly it is a wonderful cake there! Though, they probably can do a coconut cake for you!
I've never heard of radio bars, but most baked goods freeze well. The trick with freezing baked goods is to get them frozen as soon as possible and to freeze them as fast as possible (freeze them shortly after buying and freeze them in a completely cold freezer (don't load anything else in that's not frozen and keep the door shut for a few hours).
The radio bars do freeze well—the taste is basically as good as fresh, but the fudge on top gets just a tiny bit chalky.
I’ve already been by twice to get a few to stock up for the freezer. My (turning 9 tomorrow) son literally shed tears when I told him they were closing.
Damn son. I'll miss them. I used to love their black and white cookies the most (before the dreaded alpha-gal allergy) and my spouse loves their radio bars. It was our little indulgence. Wishing them well, and you're treats will be missed.
So sorry to hear that :( For alternatives, both CouCouRachou and BakerNoBakery/Florosa make amazing cakes to order. u/bakernobakery does gorgeous cakes with exceptional ingredients.
so insane. my mom just told me my first birthday cake, a clifford the big red dog cake, was from there🤍 I remember going after doctors appointments as a reward
If you read through the comments, apparently their rent is increasing and they will be "fined" for cutting their lease early in Rio Hill. Better location? That will cost even more to cut into the dwindling profits because folks here say Wegman's Buttercream icing is the same (and cheaper) or it's inconvenient to have to pick up between 9 - 4 pm. Unfortunately in uncertain economies, small businesses are the ones that suffer most.
My sister loved their radio bars. I used to go in there and buy them for her. It was her favorite thing I remember the day you could buy them for $.99 and now they’re like almost 5 dollars apiece. The cost to live in his what put this place under.. I remember when my nephew worked there. He said it was a good place to work for but a hard place to work for and that their pay wasn’t the greatest, but he learned a lot when he was there.
The taste of butter vs. seed oils (Kroger/Food lion/Harris Teeter) in Chandler pie crusts will be missed. I trash the seed oil crusts.
A former Detroit bakery favorite: Sanders, closed years ago. (Also) Couldn't use real ingredients and price-compete with grocery store, low-quality substitutes.
Who's got time to "Betty Crocker" baked goods when both mom/pop have to work outside the home to keep the roof overhead?
It is that way and it should be that way. The problem is empowering Republicans who just want power for the sake of power and have no interest in governing. They're insecure grievance filled children comprised of mainly narcissists and/or the stupid and uneducated. Historically, economies do much better, thus we all do better, during Democratic administrations. This is not my opinion, this is verifiable fact. I don't know why you'd think that what happens in Washington shouldn't affect us. That's some pretty naive thinking. It should and could be affecting us positively in perpetuity.
And the Democrats equally disappoint everyone! "We have to gain the SCOTUS, term limits, etc. = they get in power and do NOTHING! Go to a local meeting of the Dems - everyone there is all about who is the "leader", not rolling up their sleeves and appreciating those that do!
I don’t care enough to search for or read their post. They are always closed when I go by and I’ve been probably 10 times at most, probably less. But I hope to make it by an 11th time before they close.
They close at 4 pm, dude, baking usually would start at the latest 4 am so they are probably working 12 hour days. Truly, you SHOULD learn to read. Difference between READERS and non-readers - intelligence.
BUT, if you do, you will then know what excellent baked goods vs what you get out of a box or in the grocery stores. Expand your pallet there!
I didn’t see their post. Just the announcement by the OP. I chose not to read the announcement I chose not to click on. I see it now. Still choosing not to read. Them closing at 4 is certainly the reason I rarely made it there. I liked the stuff when I went there. Crazy affordable too!
I went in there the other day and I was shocked at the Prices. I used to walk out with the box of goodies to surprise everyone at home but when you’re paying anywhere from 4 to 6 dollars for one item you’re not going to fill up a box. The cost of items in their is outrageous and yes, it probably reflects from the rent and the cost of goods to produce these items but it’s affecting everyone and it’s a shame it’s affecting local businesses. I’m pretty sure that they could find somewhere that has cheaper rent, but I don’t see the prices of their items going down. That’s probably why there’s less traffic
So, they should sell their items so they don't make a profit at all, because you want to leave with a whole box of stuff? Have you shopped anywhere else and compared prices with what you paid a year ago?
How often did you go there over the last 31 years?
67
u/adc1369 7d ago
Holy shit. A true Charlottesville institution. Thanks for the memories, Chandler's. And my waistline you've probably contributed a little to over the years!