Sara Lee Plant in Alabama Closes, 128 Laid Off

First it was Twinkees, now it is Sara Lee. Here is the story from the Dothan Eagle:

A manufacturing plant that employs 128 people is closing in Dothan.

The Sara Lee/Colonial Baking Company bakery on Bell Street at Tate Drive will cease operations by May 21, Bimbo Bakeries USA announced on Thursday.

Sara Lee Corp. sold its North American bakery business to Grupo Bimbo last November for $709 million. The bakery in Dothan produces bread and buns and will shift production to other sites in Bimbo’s manufacturing network.

And there was the usual Corporate FlackSpeak:

“This was a difficult decision because of the highly engaged team of associates and the great community tradition at the Dothan bakery,” said Kevin Williams, regional vice president of operations for Bimbo’s Southeast region. “However, after careful analysis and consideration, we found it necessary to address the aging facility that made it difficult to compete in the marketplace.”

“Our customers and consumers in Dothan and throughout the state are very important to us,” said Tony Gavin, regional vice president of sales for Bimbo’s Southeast region. “Recognizing that Alabama is a valuable marketplace, we will continue to operate 183 distribution routes across the state. In fact, 38 of these routes were added within the last two years as an investment in this market.”

Because there is no better "investment in a market" than laying off a bunch of your customers.


Bonus: I challenge you to watch this and not have the jingle get stuck in your head