The 120-Year-Old-Bakery Behind This Grocery Store Bread Is Shutting Down This Summer

Schwebel Baking Co., the company behind many of your favorite grocery store brands, announced it would cease operations and begin the process of liquidating the business over the next few weeks. In the announcement posted June 17, the bakery explains that it plans to continue normal business operations through July 4, then slowly halt sales and distribution of its products throughout the summer. 

Schwebel's is a beloved, 120-year-old family-owned bakery founded by Joseph and Dora Schwebel in 1906. The husband-and-wife team started selling loaves of bread door-to-door in their Youngstown, Ohio community before growing to produce bread, rolls, and buns (including the poorly-ranked Schwebel's hot dog buns) for grocery stores, retailers, food service companies, and commercial customers across Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and New York. Its bakeries in Youngstown and Hebron, Ohio regularly bake about 275,000 loaves of bread each day. Its products are delivered to vendors via its 20 distribution centers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Schwebel's Bakery makes grocery store favorites like 'taliano, Sun-Maid, Country Hearth, Cinnabon, Millbrook, and Original Texas Toast Bread. In 2024, the brand was recognized as a leader in the Cleveland, Youngstown, Columbus, Erie, and Pittsburgh markets and invested in upgrading its bakeries, distribution facilities, and IT infrastructure. Now the company cites financial issues and operational challenges as the primary reasons for its planned closure. CEO Steve Cooper stated in a press release that the bakeries and distribution facilities are hindered by aging equipment as well as increasing labor costs. There has also been less demand for its products over the years.

Schwebel's tried unsuccessfully to secure an investor or buyer prior to deciding to close its company for good. The company also requested to temporarily defer pension obligations to free up funds for facility improvements, but the request was denied. With its closure, more than 700 employees will be looking for new jobs. In addition to shutting down its bakeries and distribution centers, the company will also close three of the Bakery Outlet Thrift Stores it operates in Erie, McKeesport, and Franklin, Pennsylvania. This comes six years after it shut down its Solon, Ohio bakery and 12 years after the closure of its Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio facility.

It's unclear at this time what that will mean for the future of the brands that have relied on Schwebel's Bakery to produce its products for that region, such as Country Hearth and Sun-Maid Raisin, maker of one of the best store-bought cinnamon raisin breads. 

Some Schwebel's employees may be able to find work at Orlando Baking Company, a Cleveland, Ohio manufacturer of artisan breads. The company announced on June 22 that any Schwebel's workers who need new jobs should apply there. It is currently looking to fill positions in its Cleveland facilities in the areas of bakery production as well as maintenance, sanitation, and warehouse operations.