Fort Smith Bakery to Close Facility
by July 17, 2006 12:00 am 178 views
In June, the Flowers Bakery plant in downtown Fort Smith said operations at the facility will close in mid-August, said Marta Turner, senior vice president of corporate relations for Flowers Foods Inc., of which Flowers Bakery is a subsidiary.
Turner said the decision to close the bakery was based on “skyrocketing transportation costs,” adding that the facility was old, inefficient and lacked room to expand.
The plant currently has 75 employees.
The 42,000-SF plant produces boxed frozen bread that is shipped to foodservice customers. Some of the Flowers Foods products and brands are Sunbeam, Cobblestone Mill and Nature’s Own breads.
The bakery began operation in 1921 by the Shipley family of Fort Smith, and in 1996, Flowers Foods purchased Shipley Baking Co.
Flowers Foods, based in Thomasville, Ga., had sales of $1.71 billion in 2005, a 10 percent increase over 2004’s $1.55 billion. The company had net income of $61.23 million last year, up 20 percent from $50.77 million in 2004.