A local favorite bakery has announced it will close its doors soon – forever.
The owners of Champaign’s Great Harvest Bread Company made the announcement via its Facebook page on Monday.
“The rumors are true, we’ll be baking our last loaves this week and permanently closing the bakery on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 at 1 PM. We’ve loved sharing our amazing breads and sweets, donating to important events throughout the community, making friends with customers and being part of your daily bread and family traditions,” the Facebook post reads.
Located in the Shoppes of Knollwood in south Champaign for 19 years, Great Harvest Bread Company was well known for baking a wide variety of sweet and savory breads, as well as cookies, scones, biscuits and cinnamon rolls. They also made breakfast sandwiches as well as deli sandwiches at lunch for takeout.
The store was a regular seller at Urbana’s Market at the Square for many years, and a big supporter of the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon.
Although Great Harvest Bread Company is a national chain, the franchise has a local owner, who has owned the business for three years. It has been listed as being for sale on the Great Harvest corporate website.
While Great Harvest Bread Company will be missed, other local bakeries to frequent include Pekara with two Champaign locations (breads and sweets), Rick’s in downtown Urbana (breads, cakes, and sweets), The Bread Company in Urbana on campus (breads only) and Sweet Indulgence in Champaign (cakes, pies, sweet breads and other sweets).
Here’s the entire post on Facebook, which encourages fans to stock up this week.