Classic Chicago Snack Food Company Vitner's Set To Be Sold To Pennsylvania-Based Utz

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The historic Chicago snack company Vitner's is changing hands.

Pennsylvania-based potato chip maker Utz Quality Foods is buying Vitner's from the Southern California company Snak King that currently owns it.

The C.J. Vitner Company was founded on Chicago's South Side in 1926. It started with five small shops that sold candy, magazines, tobacco, and ice cream.

The business was nearly shut down by the Great Depression, but survived by pivoting to selling salty snacks such as potato chips, popcorn, and pretzels to taverns.

Vitner's was sold to Snak King in 2011, and now Utz wants to buy it for $25 million.

It was not clear late Monday what the sale would mean for jobs.

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