(COLDWATER) – It’s a tough hit for 65 hourly employees at the Aunt Millie’s Bakery in Coldwater right before the holiday season. The company announced on Friday that they will be closing the bakery on Garfield Road by the middle of January as part of a consolidation of bakeries.
Aunt Millie’s will continue to operate five other bakeries in the Midwest and they will also maintain its Bakehouse frozen division in Coldwater.
Company leaders informed employees in Coldwater of the closing on Friday. They also announced an offer of transitional assistance to those affected. They will also have job openings for almost half of the workforce at other bakeries.
Company President John F. Popp said in a statement that, “after careful analysis we determined the need to close our Coldwater bakery. This is part of a plan to optimize our bakery network. We reached this extremely difficult decision after thoroughly exploring other options.”
Aunt Millie’s has 1,600 employees and it has been family owned since 1901
. It has five bakeries including three in Michigan which are located in Kalamazoo, Jackson and Plymouth. The bread and bakery products they produce are distributed throughout the Midwest and nationally.