Grand Central Bakery

Grand Central Bakery
IndustryBakery
FoundedSeattle, Washington (1972 (1972))
FounderGwenyth Bassetti
Number of locations
11 (2014)[needs update]
Area served
Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington
Number of employees
225 (2012)[needs update]
Websitegrandcentralbakery.com

Grand Central Baking Company (d.b.a. Grand Central Bakery) is an American bakery chain with locations in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington and their metropolitan areas. It was founded in Seattle's Grand Central Hotel building, originally as The Bakery and later becoming Grand Central Bakery.[1] The bakery is known for its artisan breads.[2]

History

Grand Central was founded in 1989 by Gwyneth Bassetti in Seattle, beginning the local artisan bread movement in that city.[2][3] Her son later opened Grand Central Bakery's first Portland location in 1993 on SE Hawthorne Boulevard. The company has grown to about 370 employees since then.[4] Today, Grand Central Bakery has 11 cafes and two wholesale bakeries in the Portland and Seattle areas. It sells its baked goods in dozens of retailers across the Pacific Northwest.[5]

A small cafe filled with people.
A Grand Central Bakery location in Portland, Oregon

As of June 2018, Claire Randall has been Grand Central's CEO.[6] Grand Central's head baker is Mel Darbyshire,[7] overseeing the company's bread production in Seattle and Portland. In a move designed to shield the 33-year-old company from any future sale and protect its mission in perpetuity,[4] Grand Central Bakery announced plans in May 2022 to create a perpetual purpose trust,[5] a new type of corporate structure. As a purpose trust the bakery will no longer be owned by family and longtime employees but by the trust, which the company says will preserve independence, values, mission and company culture.[5]

Locations

Grand Central has four shops in greater Seattle,[1] in the Eastlake, Wedgwood and Wallingford neighborhoods as well is in Burien.[3] In Portland, they have shops in the Hawthorne, Woodstock, Beaumont Village, Multnomah Village, Sellwood and Mississippi district neighborhoods as well as in Cedar Mill, an unincorporated area in Northwest Portland.[8] They plan to open a shop in Hillsboro, just outside Portland, in 2023.[9] The Portland wholesale bakery voted to unionize with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 114 in 2019[10] and the union and company have negotiated 2 contracts since, one in 2020, and one in 2021.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Grand Central Bakery embraces new ownership structure driven by purpose, not profits". The Seattle Times. 2022-05-29. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  2. ^ a b Leson, Nancy (July 26, 2000). "Bread: It's on a roll, gaining momentum". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Our Company". Grand Central Bakery. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  4. ^ a b "Grand Central Bakery shifting to perpetual purpose trust ownership". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
  5. ^ a b c Oregonian/OregonLive, Kristine de Leon | The (2022-05-24). "Grand Central Bakery embraces new ownership structure driven by purpose, not profits". oregonlive. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  6. ^ "Grand Central Bank has a new CEO and plans to expand". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
  7. ^ "Grand Central Baking Co". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
  8. ^ Centoni, Danielle (2015-03-18). "Grand Central Bakery to Open New Location in Cedar Mill". Eater Portland. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  9. ^ Grega, Kelcie (17 January 2022). "Project to 'breathe new life' into former Hillsboro bank". joomlakave.com. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  10. ^ Ham, Robert. "Grand Central Bakery Production Facility Workers Vote to Unionize". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  11. ^ Crowell, Cameron (2024-07-04). "Second contract ratified at Grand Central". NW Labor Press. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
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