Kerrie Joyce 
If you’re lucky enough, you may have childhood memories of browsing the aisles of your neighborhood candy store. For many of those stores, their tenures have sadly come to an end by the year 2025 due to retirement, rent costs, corporate competition, or whatever else life has to offer. This is far from the case for Jersey City’s mom + pop shop Lee Sims Chocolates, located at 743 Bergen Avenue. Eighty years in, the store remains under the ownership of the same family spanning four generations. Read on to learn more about Lee Sims’ history in Jersey City and the family behind it.
A Landmark in Jersey City History
Lee Sims Chocolates’ original location in Jersey City’s McGinley Square neighborhood, just south of Journal Square, has stood tall throughout some of the city and nation’s most pivotal moments. The shop’s owner, Valerie Vlahakis, reflected on the evolution of the neighborhood over the years, remembering the area as a “premier shopping area” before the emergence of malls. Businesses that have long since closed included specialty boutiques like Marion and Rose and shoe stores, Wenton’s and Kitty Kelly.
She also noted that the area has always been diverse as long as she has known it, describing it as a very close-knit neighborhood. Valerie recalled the nearby Jersey City Uprising and the protests following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., after whom Historic Jackson Avenue was then honorarily renamed. According to Jackson Hill Main Street, a century after the land functioned as a “critical link” of the Underground Railroad, “One hundred years later, in the 50’s and 60’s, Jackson and Monticello Avenues were the place to be. A cornucopia of small businesses lined the corridor, satisfying a wide variety of needs, and providing a variety of entertainment venues for the local community.”
Read More: A List of Old-Fashioned Candy + Chocolate Shops in Northern New Jersey
The space was first bought by Valerie’s grandfather, George Sousane, in the 1940s, after the end of World War II. George, an immigrant from Greece, began his career working for German chocolatiers in Connecticut, learning the trade as a dishwasher and kettle cleaner. Valerie noted that prior to air conditioning, chocolate was a “secondary item” that was primarily made for artistic purposes for major holidays. Instead, her grandfather was first trained in candy-making items like taffies and jellies, which could withstand warmer temperatures. George eventually bought a house in Staten Island in the mid-1950s, and Valerie said, “He was so proud… Life was good for him, and he was well into his 70s by then. My father came into the business with him and did as he did, learned from the bottom up. Only my father came from a farm in Massachusetts, and he had a merchandising background.” Valerie elaborated on her father’s sales experience and her mother’s knack for aesthetics, with both her parents, Catherine Sousane and Nicholas Vlahakis, ultimately taking over the business in the 1950s.
Historic figures intertwined in the story of Lee Sims include United States Congressman Frank J. Guarini, who recently turned 101, making him the longest living member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Valerie noted that Representative Guarini coordinated a Valentine’s Day chocolate donation from her parents to sailors aboard the S.S. New Jersey around the late 1980s or early 90s, with a photograph of the pair standing beside a towering life-size heart-shaped chocolate box. Valerie said about her parents, “They were a really dedicated couple. They were fun to watch interact.”
Remembering the lasting legacy that Mayor Frank Hague left on the city, Valerie noted his impact in building the Jersey City Medical Center, which is now the Beacon apartment building. Regarding other aspects of his legacy, she said, “He took bribes, but everyone got a turkey at Thanksgiving and a ham at Christmas.” In a New York Times piece penned by a fellow Jersey City local, Valerie recounted an experience of her own with a Jersey City Mayor, “One February, a customer alerted Ms. Vlahakis that Mayor Jerramiah Healy was waiting in line. ‘I said, ‘And?’ ’ she said. ‘He was fine standing out there like everyone else.’”
The Women Running the Show
This family-owned business is also fully woman-owned. Valerie is the latest in a line of female leaders at Lee Sims.
Valerie’s mother, whom she likened to Della Street from the 1950s sitcom Perry Mason, was dubbed “The woman behind the genius.” She was known to keep a Rolodex of the assortment orders of regular customers, consistently dressed in a suit and apron, handled bookkeeping, and styled the front of a store to look “like a dollhouse.” Her adherence to etiquette was remembered fondly, as Valerie and longtime Lee Sims employee Magda reminisced on Catherine’s role as a leader of the business, especially in the context of customer relations. Valerie’s father, Nicholas, marketed in a different way: “He was the character. Bigger than life.” “He demanded a certain level of performance.” Nicholas’ high expectations were the facade for a soft heart, Valerie said. He was a former Marine.
Valerie’s sister, Alison McKernan, was the first among them to join the family business in the 1990s, while Valerie originally pursued a career in education. Alison now owns and operates the 422 Manor Road Lee Sims location in Staten Island with her daughter, Kerry. Valerie eventually pivoted away from her career as a Junior High teacher when she felt that the only upward direction would be moving to administration, when what she enjoyed was time with her students, saying, “I loved it, but it was time to move on.” Feeling the obligation to continue the family business as her parents aged, Valerie joined the business in the 1990s without turning back.
At the time of HG’s visit to the store, all of the employees present had been working at the shop for over 20 years. Magda and Jackie have been with the store long enough to recall Catherine’s elegant demeanor. Magda now fulfills one of Catherine’s many roles as the stylist for the store, particularly in the intricate display window. Equipped with rotating platforms, the window is currently adorned with patriotic decor for the summer holidays before Halloween preparations kick up. Jackie works the front of the store, greeting customers and remembering regulars as Catherine would with a modernized elegance — swapping charming butterfly rings for a skirt suit. Sue handles communications through phones and email, in addition to handling online orders. Celie manages mail and shipping orders, as the store ships to all 50 states.
The Secret: There Isn’t One
Giving thought to similar Jersey City candy and soda shops that have come and gone, Valerie said there is no “secret” that sets Lee Sims apart. Reciting one of her father’s famous sayings in response to probes into withheld family recipes, she said, “It’s physics and chemistry, no secret.” Another saying of his that she’s co-opted in response to questions about whether she’ll eventually retire: “They’ll carry me out dipped in caramel.”
One talent that the Lee Sims team seems to have mastered is sticking to what they know, politely rejecting requests to add Dubai Chocolate to the catalog. Business here is at its peak during Christmas and Easter. Whether the orders come from regulars maintaining their childhood traditions as adults or newcomers seeking an authentic atmosphere for their holiday shopping, nostalgia is the shop’s most exclusive item. Some return customers who come in recall being taken into the back as children, where Valerie’s father showed them the famous enrober, a machine that coats sweets with a curtain of chocolate. The confection process moved offsite in the 1970s to a warehouse on West Side Avenue for additional space.
Characterizing the new buildings and age groups in the neighborhood, Valerie said, “You know, things ebb and flow.” Given all that she and the business have lived through, when it comes to keeping up with changing times, Valerie wasn’t worried. “Things have evolved here, but we’re a destination. I’m more worried about this building, which is, like, over 100 years old, that it’s going to fall.”
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