Ethel M History
Ethel M is owned by Mars, Incorporated and was named after the mother of Forrest Mars, Sr. The company is perhaps most known for its fine liqueur-filled chocolates.
Ethel Mars taught her son Forrest E. Mars, Sr. how to make gourmet chocolate candy in their Tacoma Washington kitchen.
Forrest created Ethel M Chocolates in 1978, which opened in 1981 as a project to cure the boredom he experienced after retiring He established the venture in Nevada because it is one of the few states that allowed the sale of liqueur-filled cordials.
He started Ethel M with two of his past associates, Alan Thomas, as General Manager, and Dean Musser, as CFO.
Within a few years of its opening the company had reached annual sales of $150 million, from seventy Ethel M stores throughout the West.
In 2007, Ethel M’s introduced a new line of 48 different handmade-gourmet chocolates designed by master chocolatier Jin Caldwell.
In late 2007 the company responded to public demand for the classic line of chocolates by re-releasing six varieties of chocolates in their retail stores in the Las Vegas area.
Other than at the factory (located at 2 Cactus Garden Drive), Ethel’s stores can be found in Nevada at the California Hotel, local malls, and Gates A-E of McCarran International Airport.
Self Guided Tour at Factory
In 2016, to celebrate their 35th Anniversary, Ethel M completely remodeled their self guided viewing aisle and chocolate shop. Here you can see master chocolate makers in action at the Ethel M machines creating their signature chocolates. The tour ends at the Ethel M chocolate shop where you can create your own box of chocolates, purchase gifts to take home and order specialty drinks and freshly made chocolate pretzels, chocolate marshmallows and other chocolate delights from the chocolate café.
Botanical Cactus Garden
Adjacent to the factory is the Botanical Cactus Garden, Nevada’s largest cactus garden. Based on the English landscape model of naturalistic design, the Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden features three acres of drought-tolerant ornamental, cacti, and other succulents.
Over 300 species of plants can be found on the grounds. Half are cacti and succulents largely native to the American Southwest, and the rest are desert trees and shrubs from the Southwestern United States, Australia, and South America. All of these plants were chosen both for the beauty of their floral displays and their ability to adapt to the climate of Southern Nevada.
