Wonder Bread Bakery in Italian Village to Close
From WBNS 10-TV:
Columbus Wonder Bread Bakery To Close In May
The Wonder Bread bakery located just north of downtown on North Fourth Street will shut down operations and cease production by May 9. Interstate Bakeries Corporation (the parent company of Wonder Bread) said that local developments, including the decline of bread purchases, prompted the latest round of closures.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 7:20 pm and is filed under Development.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Related Tags: bakery • business • closings • historic • Italian Village • wonder bread
March 10th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I’m going to miss that smell on 670.
And let me add it is terrible that people are losing their jobs.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
That’s the first thing I thought of too! Then I thought that makes me a bad person for not thinking of all the people who are going to lose their jobs.
Closing down because it’s not equipped to make all-natural bread. Eating healthy kills jobs! ;)
March 10th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
You two aren’t the only ones. My first thought was of missing the smell, too. But I hate to see anyone out of work right now.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
that is terrible.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Maybe ARMS Properties can buy the building and partition it into warehouse loft condos. Call it Wond-iza!
March 10th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I’m certainly sad about people losing their jobs. But Wonder Bread is what’s wrong with America.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
That is tragic.
With all those ovens, though, it gives me a different idea for how that space might be put to good use….
March 10th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Perfect venue for the next pizza grand prix…. finally a way to keep all the pizzas hot!
March 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
How so ?
March 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
New lofts for artists or anyone for that matter?? Could maybe tie in with the campus of art schools they are building across the street.
Hey Kyle E. Use this building for your “create a business, live for free” concept that you’re working on.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Mass produced, barely nutritious, empty calories, ultra processed, fake food, lazy food. Of course that’s just my opinion.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Noooooooooooooo I love the smell!!!! When my son attended St. Joseph’s montessori I loved the smell. Even now, downtown from time to time you can smell it!!
March 10th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Yea but they make a good whole wheat.
You know I would have to counter with the people that buy it thinking it is good for you. If they can’t read lables it’s a shame but not all things are bad in modaration :) It’s also not just wonder bread that makes things that are bad for us. You know how many people eat lean freezer meals and think there ok . lol In the end it’s peoples choice what they eat.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
This is awful news. This is maybe my favorite smell in all columbus. :( :(
And if wonder bread is the biggest thing that you can think of wrong with this country, then we all must be in pretty great shape.
btw anyone scope out what kind of odor is coming from the kroger bakery on cleveland ave? any comparison?
March 10th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
No, you’re right. People should eat what they want. But I see Wonder Bread as responsible for the homogenization of the American meal that our nation is just finally overcoming. 50 years of kids ate this dreck instead of the hearty, nutritious breads of their grandparents.
Cheapness, shelf stability and uniformity are not qualities I put at the forefront in good food.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Evidence to support your contention please.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
just because this bakery’s closing doesnt mean that everyone is going to start hand baking bread on stone hearths and become some new breed of “master bread artisans” or some crap. People will still eat wonder, or schwebels, or kroger brand, or whatever, because of the value of the price for the quality you get.
if that doesnt jive with you than go bake your own from the wheat you grow out in your field, mill it, and bake it up like our forefathers. thats your prerogative and you can enjoy bread as you wish. this is america. :)
March 10th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I’m not sure what you want evidence of - my opinion that Wonder Bread is junk, or that Wonder Bread has been around for a long time?
Evidence of this sort is anecdotal - American culture in general was dramatically homogenized during the post WWII era - traces of ethinic food specialties, breads foremost among them, were ghettoized to ethnic bakeries and import shops. Baking was outsourced to a factory rather than done at home.
I’m not looking to start a debate here, just offered my opinion. And I’ll restate that I’m terribly sorry for the people who will lose their jobs. But if there is less Wonder Bread on the grocery store shelves, I’m not going to shed a tear.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Wow.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
That was kinda my point, I’ve noticed you’ve been prone to what I like to refer to speculative hyperbole. Completely outrageous and outlandish statements not supported in the least with evidence. This was yet another example. You claim you’re not trying to start a debate, but when you drop a ridiculous-bomb like that one, you are.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I know I’m in the tiniest minority here, but man, I actually hate that smell. I resent stepping out of doors and having my blood sugar go haywire just ’cause I’m breathing.
BUT!! I will say that although I’m mostly a whole-wheat gal, ya can’t beat a good old PB and J on Wonder Bread, and I’m very sorry to hear of the folks losing their jobs.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Well, c’mon, now. Joev’s got a point. Value isn’t just a function of the price you pay at the checkout counter. One message that’s becoming clearer over time is that our incessant drive, as consumers, for cheaper and cheaper food, and the ingenuity of corporate food entities in meeting that desire, ends up having a big long-term price in terms of health. HFCS in soft drinks is cheaper than sugar, white bread produces spikes in blood sugar that prompt fat storage, all of which raises rates of obesity and the odds of type II diabetes… etc., etc.
And it’s not so much that people can’t read the labels. They can, but it’s not obvious to all consumers that these processed starches and carbs are as bad for you as they are. And health information seems hazy and uncertain, and health implications can seem a long way away, whereas a ten-cent difference in the price of a loaf of bread is a cold hard fact in the here and now.
I’m not blaming Wonder, or advocating a return to the hearth. But it’s precisely the concept of value that we need to rethink. If something costs a little less at the checkout counter but ends up giving you diabetes and taking ten years off of your life and leaving you legless and blind, I would contend that you’d get a better value out of spending the extra dime.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
So your argument is that my philosophical reasoning isn’t the tops - point taken.
I don’t think my original statement is outrageous or outlandish - all I was trying to do was to quanitfy my ambivalence with the closing of the factory. I think it sucks for the workers; but I like that Wonder Bread is not as profitable as it once was.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
+1 Joev
What year is it??? I thought everyone knew how bad white bread is &stripped down of pretty much all nutritional value. Hmm??? The American diet has revolved around these type of empty foods and left us fat& unhealthy. I better dig up my old Nutrion text books to find evidence to support the obvious though ;)
I lived a stone’s throw from this factory though for over ten years& do not want to see anyone lose their jobs. That does suck. I do hope people are choosing better foods, but doubt this is evidence of that idea.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I personally think white bread is delcious and prefer it over wheat. And yes it can be a perfectly fine part of your diet when you eat other stuff besides all bread all the time and do some exercise.
As far as value, all i mean is it accomplishes what its there for. Its cheap, readily available bread, of a decent taste (personal opinion), can fit into a healthy lifestyle, and is real easy to make sandwiches with.
The year is 2009, and people should still be able to be smart and eat wonder bread if they want to. Its not an either/or. And if they can’t, then they have bigger problems in their lives at the moment and need to look beyond the loaf of bread they bought at the store to start finding some real solutions.