Cleveland, OH

Malley’s Chocolates matriarch Adele Malley pens business-advice book

Published

11 months ago

August 29, 2023

Malley’s Chocolates matriarch Adele Malley pens business-advice book

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Walk into a Malley’s Chocolates and you’re surrounded by a product Clevelanders have loved since 1935. But it takes more than just a love of chocolate to keep the company going all those years.

Adele Malley is proof of that.

To be sure, the matriarch of the family-owned business does enjoy the product, but the company is built on sound business principles. And at 86 years young, Malley has organized those practices to help retail businesses in her book, “Conversations with Adele: Business Owners’ Fundamentals for Success.”

She became involved in the business after getting married in 1959, waiting on customers at the soda fountain. She had four children in five years, then a hiatus of almost a decade before two more children came along. But the business was always a team between Malley and her late husband, Bill.

“I made decorations at night,” she said. “I’d have the floor spread out with some new gizmo I was making to surprise everybody. Even when Bill and I were dating that’s what we would talk about – how we were going to do this, wouldn’t it be neat if we did that? But I would say ‘if you did this’. I wouldn’t tell him what I was thinking. But I was thinking early on.”

Malley was always pondering. Driving she would be caught behind a bus, fumes spewing at her, but the mental wheels kept turning. She would gaze at an advertisement on the back of the bus.

“How do they afford to do that?” she would ask herself, “because I know this company, they’re just down the street. So it just made me go find out.”

What’s motivates Malley is the willingness to try to help others especially those starting out. And a key message is to realize the importance of the front lines – the person greeting customers in any business.

“When people are starting a small retail business they don’t have a lot of people to say, ‘Oh, you’re sick? Well, call Susie, call Bob, they’ll step in for you.’ They just have each other. It’s really tough. When you hire somebody to help you, say at Christmastime, who’s out there working with the customers? A small business is probably someone behind the register and a new person is out there with the customers. It’s so important that they train them and educate them who and what the culture of the company is.”

Malley’s textbook approach breaks chapters that cover all things business, but themes ring out: Self-confidence, advocacy, communication, preparation and attention to details.

“There is a lot of information,” she said. “I just hope the people will know more about how things work and what happens. How does a person propel themselves forward in business, their company and their community? That’s the biggest thing, to get the confidence in themselves and believe in themselves. Stop looking around and being so insecure – ‘Oh, I’m not good enough, I don’t know enough,’ and they keep waiting and the ship passes them by. And the other ones, who are so cocky having long lunches and in the meantime their business is not going anyplace because they’re not working it. They have to be right there to meet the customers because that’s where their culture is developed, and the people get to know them and be loyal. That’s if they have a great product.”

Growth is a key challenge for all businesses, and Malley’s wasn’t immune.

“You never know what the public is going to want,” she said. “One year we ran out of licorice jelly beans and we were so sorry. People who like licorice want it; they don’t have a lot of other flavors they like. Next year we loaded up on licorice jelly beans – and had them at half price after Easter. People went on to cherry flavor that year.”

But, she says, the most important thing is “training and educating – making sure they understand and it’s written down and they understand what they are supposed to be doing. Then we have conversations with them and hear what they have to say. That is the biggest challenge because our people are us. No matter how hard the family works, if our people don’t believe in us and want to see Malley’s go forward, then we’re not going to go forward.”

Economic downturns affect all industries and businesses, but Malley’s approach is to stay the course – “Believe in your product and your people, and it will come around,” she said.

Malley clearly knows the process and people; she’s been merchandising and marketing the beloved Cleveland-made treats for more than 60 years. Her expertise has grown, and her passion for the product never wanes. Get her talking about BillyBobs and your mouth will water.

“If you could see them going down the belt, the fresh-roasted pecans, then the golden caramel – the caramel is thicker so it kind of oozes down between the pecans – then it goes under a shower of Malley’s chocolates, that’s another bottomer of chocolate and one more topping,” Malley said. “Then it gets cooled down. (Workers) pick ‘em up and pop them in their boxes and get them all ready for us. They’re just the best.”

Nowadays, Malley is more likely to be behind a car that has the ubiquitous CHOC sticker with its soft colored pink and green stripes rather than bus fumes. But that doesn’t mean she has stopped thinking about the business, even though her title is chairman emeritus.

“It took me a while to get this written,” she said. “As soon as I passed the chapters on to my publisher, I thought – it was the same day – ‘Oh my goodness, I just passed on these ideas to people, but I didn’t tell them how to exactly do it. I’ve got to get busy and tell them how to do it.’ So I started writing another book that day. I am just finishing it right now.”

She added: “If I can save somebody from going through all the big steps to do all this, I will just feel like I am blessed.”

About the book

Book: “Conversations with Adele: Business Owners’ Fundamentals for Success,” by Adele Malley, Smart Business Books, 299 pages, $29.95.

To buy: Go to https://malleys.com/collections/adele-malleys-book. Books also are available in Malley’s Chocolates, which has more than a dozen stores throughout Northeast Ohio. Here’s the location finder.

Related coverage: After years of doing business abroad, Hall of Fame Village CEO Crawford publishes business-advice book

I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. For my recent stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursdays. Twitter: @mbona30. My latest book, co-authored with Dan Murphy, is “Joe Thomas: Not Your Average Joe” by Gray & Co.

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Cleveland, OH

Fatal shooting on east side after reports of large fight: Cleveland Police

Published

2 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

Fatal shooting on east side after reports of large fight: Cleveland Police

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – One man is dead after a shooting following reports of a large fight on the east side, according to Cleveland Police.

Police got reports of a large fight around 2:50 a.m. on Saturday in the 1000 block of East 71st Street.

While officers were en route, they learned that two people were shot.

Police located a 22-year-old man and a 24-year-old man who were both shot, according to a release.

Both of the men were taken to the hospital by EMS.

The 22-year-old man later died at the hospital.

The condition of the 24-year-old is unknown.

Cleveland Police homicide unit is investigating, according to police.

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Cleveland, OH

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Results: Winners And Grades On August 3, 2024

Published

10 hours ago

August 4, 2024

Press Room

WWE SummerSlam 2024 results

Credit: WWE.com

WWE SummerSlam 2024 from Cleveland, Ohio advertised six championship matches. Among them was Solo Sikoa challenging Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Championship, LA Knight challenging Logan Paul for the WWE United States Championship, Sami Zayn defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bron Breakker and GUNTHER challenging Damian Priest for the WWE World Championship.

This week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.412 million viewers on SyFy after being preempted by the Olympics.

WWE SummerSlam Results | August 3, 2024

Liv Morgan def. Rhea Ripley | WWE Women’s World Championship
Bron Breakker def. Sami Zayn | WWE Intercontinental Championship
LA Knight def. Logan Paul | WWE United States Championship
Nia Jax def. Bayley | WWE Women’s Championship
Drew McIntyre def. CM Punk
GUNTHER def. Damian Priest | WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Cody Rhodes def. Solo Sikoa | WWE Undisputed Championship

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Ticket Sales

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Venue: Cleveland Browns Stadium (Cleveland, OH)
WWE SummerSlam 2024 Tickets Distributed: 55,858
WWE SummerSlam 2024 Tickets Available: 807

WWE Money In The Bank 2024 Winners And Grades

Liv Morgan Def. Rhea Ripley

Despite all the talk of The Judgment Day competing by themselves, Dominik Mysterio accompanied Rhea Ripley to the ring.

Michael Cole noted the last time Rhea Ripley lost a singles match was 26 months ago. To Liv Morgan.

This match started as a cat-and-mouse as Liv ran away from Ripley. Fans became frustrated and booed Liv loudly.

Rhea dominated this match until Liv Morgan dodged a charging Ripley and followed up by throwing her, shoulder-first, into the turnbuckle. Ripley could be heard (kayfabe) saying “it’s out, it’s out!”

Fans were split as they made dueling chants of “let’s go Rhea/let’s go Liv!”

Liv Morgan (kayfabe) popped her shoulder back into place by running herself into the announce table and fans went crazy.

Ripley hit the riptide, but did not pin Morgan. Instead, she grabbed a steel chair that Morgan brought into the ring. Mysterio grabbed the chair from her, which was the wise decision because she would have gotten herself disqualified. This led to an Oblivion for a nearfall and “holy s—t” chants.

Dom distracted the ref, leading to an Oblivion on the steel chair for the win. After the match, Dominik Mysterio kissed Liv Morgan and they left together.

Backstage, Damian Priest was furious with Dominik Mysterio for his actions. Finn and the rest of the Judgment Day vowed to go find him. I don’t trust them.

Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan Grade: A-

Bron Breakker Def. Sami Zayn

Bron Breakker hit his always impressive Breakkensteiner early on, then he proceeded to scream “quit!” at Sami Zayn.

Bron Breakker cut Sami Zayn off with a Spear, then he hit ayn with another Spear for the win. This wasn’t necessarily a squash match, but it was definitely a dominant win for Breakker.

Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn Grade: B

LA Knight Def. Logan Paul

Logan Paul wore a Cleveland-inspired American Flag vest and greeted two security guards on his way to the ring. One of hte security guards turned out to be Cleveland’s own MGK.

LA Knight shattered the glass on Logan Paul’s Prime vehicle before making his way to the ring.

Paul cleared the table, but LA Knight got the better of him with a modified TKO, though the table didn’t break.

Paul won these people over with a springboard moonsault on LA Knight. Though they cheered the spot, they eventually came to their senses and chanted “you still suck!”

After jumping up on the top rope, LA Knight hit a scary looking superplex. Fans chanted “this is awesome” after a nearfall.

Logan Paul borrowed brass knuckles from MGK. After a shot to LA Knight, Knight countered with a BFT.

Logan Paul vs. LA Knight Grade: A-

Nia Jax Def. Bayley

Bayley relentlessly knocked Nia Jax off her feet early in the match.

Nia Jax took control of the match, to the point where she hit the Annihilator, but Bayley kicked out.

Jax called herself “reckless” and “clumsy” while trash-talking Bayley on offense.

Bayley hit an awesome power bomb on Nia Jax from the top rope. The fans were fervently into a match that struggled to follow Logan Paul vs. LA Knight.

A Tiffany Stratton cash-in was thwarted by Bayley, but the distraction led to two power bombs and two Annihilators for the win.

Nia Jax vs. Bayley Grade: A-

Drew McIntyre Def. CM Punk

Seth Rollins walked out in a long cloak, and what was under the jacket was certain to be even wilder.

WWE used ref cameras on the referee’s ear, and there were never more ref cam shots than during Seth Rollins’ entrance.

Rollins’ referee outfit were baggy, bedazzled pants and a cutoff shirt similar to Shawn Michaels.

Fans chanted “CM Punk” to start the match as punk donned pink gear in homage to Bret Hart.

Rollins did a great job working the fans into a frenzy before ringing the bell. When the bell rang, Punk and McIntyre brawled like crazy.

Instead of counting to 10 while Punk and McIntyre were outside of the ring, Rollins instead chose to tie his shoes. Rollins also took immense pleasure in seeing Punk and Rollins beat the hell out of one another.

During an Anaconda Vice on McIntyre, Punk secured his friendship bracelet and the entire stadium celebrated.

Punk stopped his GTS on McIntyre dead in its tracks and confronted Rollins about wearing his bracelet, which Rollins picked up off the ground did wear, but out of no malice.

After a ref bump and a nearfall (followed by a second visual pinfall), Punk and Rollins got into a heated argument. Punk hit a Go To Sleep on Rollins and took his bracelet back, but it cost him the match.

Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk Grade: B+

GUNTHER Def. Damian Priest

Finn Balor wished Damian Priest luck before the match. Famous last words.

GUNTHER already had chop marks on his chest before the match even started.

GUNTHER and Priest chopped the hell out of one another to the point where GUNTHER was bleeding from the chest.

Finn Balor hit the ring, presumably to save Priest, but he ended up costing Priest the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by putting GUNTHER’s leg on the bottom rope.

After this match, Jelly Roll, The Miz and R-Truth took out A-Town Down Under.

GUNTHER vs. Damian Priest Grade: B+

Cody Rhodes Def. Solo Sikoa

Cody Rhodes ran into Arn Anderson backstage, and Anderson said he called in a few favors to a few allies of Cody Rhodes. Some of whom he knows, some he doesn’t.

For a full recap of Cody vs. Solo Sikoa in Bloodline Rules, click here.

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Cleveland, OH

Ohio State loses out to Oregon for in-state five-star safety

Published

17 hours ago

August 3, 2024

Press Room

Ohio State loses out to Oregon for in-state five-star safety

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