Sara Lee Bread Store closing in Willmar, Minn.

WILLMAR, Minn. - The last days of the Sara Lee Bread Store in Willmar are numbered as July 12 draws closer.

Corporate owner Bimbo Bakery USA, who owns the Sara Lee brand along with several others including Thomas, Brownberry and Entenmann’s, has been closing outlet and thrift stores across the nation over the past few years and Willmar’s time has come.

“I think this is going to hurt the community. People depend on it,” said longtime store manager Mary Floren. The last day for the Willmar store is July 12 and Floren will be selling the goods for $1 each, until July 11 when an even bigger sale will take place during the last two days of business.

The store is already looking a little bare, with the selection of grocery items fading after each day. While there will be no new stock of grocery items, such as stuffing mix and gravy, customers will still be able to purchase bread.

“I will continue to receive bakery items until July 12,” Floren said.

A Willmar diet staple for 27 years, the store on Willmar Avenue was first built for Metz Baking Company, when part of the road was still gravel and 19th Avenue didn’t exist.

“This was country,” Floren said.

Floren has worked at the store for 22 years. During her time she has seen the store change hands five times and she has had 15 bosses.

The bread store never baked its own goods, but instead accepted deliveries of bread nearing its sell-by date from area stores. The bread store would sell it at a discounted price, helping the company make some money off unsold merchandise. Eventually the store began selling groceries beyond baked goods, to bring in even more customers looking for a deal.

“It turned into a convenience store with thrift store prices,” Floren said.

Once the bread reached its sell-by date, it would go to places like the Willmar Food Shelf or even to be used in pet food.

“I don’t throw anything away,” Floren said.

While she doesn’t know how Bimbo and area stores will deal with older goods, Floren said the company has always been good about recycling product that isn’t sold.

“They don’t dispose of it in a landfill either,” Floren said.

Customers won’t only miss the great deals and food, but the employees and the fun they would have at the store. Floren spoke about the funny, tongue-in-cheek signs former employee Nicole Bredeson would create. Floren recalled one specifically. She had told Bredeson to change the sign several times so Bredeson made the sign read something to the effect that she was changing the sign because her boss told her to.

“People drove up and took pictures,” Floren said.

Currently, there are four people employed at the store. With the severance package being offered to Floren, she has decided to retire. Floren said she plans on spending some time on a beach before starting to volunteer. Fellow employees also have future plans in place. Laura Jeseritz is taking time for family while Vicki Constans and Mary Jo Farhat have other jobs.

Since the closing had been announced, and especially since Monday when Floren marked everything down to $1, the store has seen a steady stream of the customers, many buying enough bread to fill a freezer.

“Eighty items I’m putting in bags,” Floren said.

The current business is an example of the kind of community support the store has gotten during its nearly three decades in business. Marilyn Slagter, who has been coming to the store since it opened, was unprepared for the news.

“I was surprised, shocked. There has always been people here when I shopped,” Slagter said as she filled her cart.

Fellow customer Cheryl Baumgartner said she knew of many people who came to the Sara Lee Bread Store when they needed goods for special events.

“This store is really going to be missed,” Baumgartner said.