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Entenmann's To Close Plant In Bay Shore, Long Island

BAY SHORE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- From the coffee cake to the doughnuts, almost everyone has a favorite treat from Entenmann's bakery.

As CBS 2's Lou Young reported, Entenmann's products have all been made at a bakery in Bay Shore, Long Island for decades. But come summer, such will be the case no more.

The Entenmann's plant is spread across 14 acres on Fifth Avenue in North Bay Shore, it will close for good. The work will be absorbed by Mexican baking giant Grupo Bimbo – the corporate parent of Entenmann's.

Entenmann's To Close Plant In Bay Shore, Long Island

At one time, Entenmann's was a family business. Its headquarters have been in Bay Shore since 1905.

"They've been here all my life, and that's 53 years," said Grace Leggio of Bay Shore.

"At every gathering or store you go to, you have Entenmann's," said Eric Seaford of Bay Shore.

The company was founded by German immigrant William Entenmann in Brooklyn in 1898, and Entenmann moved the company to headquarters on Main Street in Bay Shore seven years later.

The company really went big time in 1961 with the construction of the big plant. CBS 2 was there in 1998, when Entenmann's celebrated its 100th anniversary, with a parade and children dressed as cookies.

Entenmann's was purchased by pharmaceutical firm Warner-Lambert in 1978, and sold to General Foods four years later. Following a series of transactions in the more than three decades since, the company is now owned by Mexican baking giant Grupo Bimbo.

Now, Grupo Bimbo has decided the bakery is not efficient enough, which is tough for Long Islanders who have a special bond with the products.

"Anywhere you go, people always bring Entenmann's, so they shouldn't make them anywhere else," said Odette Perlata. "They should stay here."

"We buy packages of Entenmann's when we go to the factory -- I mean packages," said Kathy Martin of West Babylon. "They tie them up, we go out in bundles, and it's a shame -- it really is a shame.

The company is cutting 178 jobs at the plant. The Entenmann's store in Bay Shore will remain, but all the goods will be baked somewhere else.

A spokesman for Bimbo Bakeries U.S.A. said, "We are committed that there will be no change in the quality, freshness and availability" of Entenmann's products.

The company also said after the plant closes, Entenmann's will still employ 1,600 people in New York state.

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