Jenny Lee baker moving into former grocery in McKees Rocks, expanding
The company behind Jenny Lee cinnamon swirl breads is moving its wholesale bakery into a former Bottom Dollar Food store in McKees Rocks as part of a $4 million expansion that will include a small retail market.
Scott Baker, owner of 5 Generation Bakers, said he purchased the shuttered Bottom Dollar Food location on Chartiers Avenue last week from Aldi, which inherited it in a larger acquisition.
The facility is less than a mile from 5 Generation's location on Island Avenue and gives the company room to expand its production and nearly triple its workforce during the next three to five years, Baker said Sunday.
The deal not only keeps a growing company in McKees Rocks but restores a small part of what the community lost when Bottom Dollar Food closed.
“For the first time since I opened up 5 1⁄2 years ago, we're going to be able to put a retail store in,” Baker said.
The bakery will be small, about 500 square feet, with an assortment of produce, dairy and Jenny Lee brand products, he said.
He plans to move into the Bottom Dollar Food space in the second quarter of next year and is planning a groundbreaking for Oct. 20. Baker did not disclose the purchase price for the property but said it is part of the $4 million project.
The expansion is a major step forward for 5 Generation since its founding in 2010. Baker started the company as a single-product wholesaler to relaunch his family's Jenny Lee Bakery, which ended a 70-year run in 2008 when it was unable to recover from a devastating Thanksgiving Day fire two years before.
Keeping 5 Generation in McKees Rocks was a huge victory for the community, said Taris Vrcek, executive director for the McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation.
Not only did McKees Rocks retain a growing employer, but the addition of a retail grocery is a step toward filling a hole left when Bottom Dollar Food closed in January, he said.
An Aldi supermarket is about a mile away, but still too far for many McKees Rock residents, Vrcek said.
“Forty percent of our residents don't own a vehicle,” Vrcek said. “So having fresh food within walking distance is critical.”
Baker had been working with Vrcek for the past year and a half to find a bigger location as sales of 5 Generation's gourmet cinnamon swirl breads grew, Vrcek said.
The products are sold in more than 4,000 stores, supermarkets and restaurants in 20 states, and the company is looking to add major grocery chains such as Publix and Albertsons, Baker said.
He said he considered relocating outside the region but had always hoped to remain in McKees Rocks for the sake of his 37 employees.
“I didn't want to lose anybody,” Baker said. “Our goal was to stay close to home for those employees and not lose anybody by making it more difficult for them.”
Chris Fleisher is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7854 or cfleisher@tribweb.com.
