Star Bakery in Oak Park set to close after 108 years
OAK PARK, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - An Oak Park bakery known for producing beloved Jewish baked goods will soon close its doors after 108 years in business.
Star Bakery on Coolidge Highway will close on July 2. The bakery was founded in 1915.
The bakery's owners, Daniel Buckfire, David Schechter and Stacy Fox, made the announcement, citing rising costs of labor and ingredients, as well as ongoing difficulties after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buckfire, Schechter and Fox purchased Star Bakery in July 2021 and Dimond Bakery in West Bloomfield in November 2021. Many of Star Bakery's recipes will continue at Diamond Bakery, located at 6722 Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield.
"It was a very hard decision to close, and we did everything we could to try to save Star Bakery and make it profitable," said Buckfire. "Wholesale was always a significant part of the business at Star Bakery, and we determined that we were no longer competitive on this side of the business."
Star Bakery was known for producing Jewish-style baked items like rye breads, challahs, rolls, rugelach, seven-layer cake and mandel bread.
Diamond Bakery will continue selling Star Bakery's breads, rugelach, kichel and mandel bread. It is hoped that some positions at Star Bakery will transfer to Diamond Bakery.
"We felt that Diamond Bakery, with its location in West Bloomfield and its strong retail business and brand name, gives us the best chance to operate a neighborhood Jewish-style bakery successfully," said Buckfire.