{"id":137,"date":"2009-07-15T04:27:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-15T04:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/terragrafix.com\/blog\/?p=137"},"modified":"2009-07-15T04:27:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-15T04:27:00","slug":"semifreddis-leaving-emeryville-after-20-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesecretnewsonline.com\/?p=137","title":{"rendered":"Semifreddi’s Leaving Emeryville After 20 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Beloved Family Bakery Displaced by Pixar<\/span> <\/span>

Forced to Leave Town Despite City Promises <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By Brian Donahue and Tracy Schroth <\/p><\/div>\n

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Sometime before Oct. 31, the final tray of baguettes will be pulled from the oven and another Emeryville business and its 125 jobs will vanish in the name of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153progress.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Semifreddi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, one of the Bay Area\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leading craft bakers is being forced out to make room for the latest expansion by Disney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pixar Animation Studios. <\/div>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We would have loved to stay in Emeryville,” said Tom Frainier, co-owner and president of Semifreddi’s. “But there is no space for light industrial use such as ours anymore.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The die was cast in 2000 when Pixar purchased the building at Hollis and 45th streets where Semifreddi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, Bisco\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Caf\u00c3\u00a9, Grainger’s tool supply, and other businesses called home. The building, a low-slung, brick and glass pre-war factory now has a firm date with the wrecking ball. It will be replaced by a new two-story office building, part of phase II of Pixar’s campus expansion. The campus, when complete, will stretch from 45th to Park streets, and from Hollis Street to San Pablo Avenue. It will be the largest uninterrupted parcel of commercial space in town. The entire campus will be surrounded by an 8-foot security fence.<\/p>\n

Frainier said his company has had a good working relationship with Pixar, its neighbor and current landlord. However, relations with the City have been less amicable. Despite promises from Council Members Nora Davis and Dick Kassis that the City would help the bakery find a new home, Frainier said little was done to keep the bakery in Emeryville.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Talk is cheap,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Frainier said.<\/div>\n

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The Bakery has operated in Emeryville for the past 20 years, delivering pastries, bread, and desserts to hundreds of supermarkets, restaurants, and specialty shops all over the Bay Area.<\/div>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our first choice was to stay in Emeryville,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Mike Rose, Semifreddi’s co-owner with brother-in-law Frainier. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We love it here.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/div>\n

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Rose said he has known for years that the end was coming. Pixar bought the building in 2000 with the intent of tearing it down. He said Semifreddi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s was never even given a chance to put an offer on the building. Since then, every effort to purchase another building in town has been unsuccessful. <\/div>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Every time we tried to buy a space in town, we were beat to it by condo developers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Rose said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pulte Homes bought the last site before Semifreddi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s could.” Left with no choice, the bakery, which produces 160,000 loaves of bread a week, took its search outside the city limits.<\/div>\n

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Semifreddi’s has found an eager host in the City of Alameda, where it will relocate in November. It will keep company with two former Emeryville neighbors, Peets Coffee and Donsuemor, which makes gourmet French cookies.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Emeryville has done everything to transform [itself] away from blue collar industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Frainier said, adding he’s watched it turn from a small town with “alittle bit of everything” to a city that caters to corporations and big box retail.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now the town has morphed into malls, condos, and office space,” Frainier said, lamenting that the many things that make a city attractive have been left by the wayside.<\/p>\n

Frainier’s partner, Mike Rose, added that the city has \u00e2\u20ac\u0153inadequate provisions for families,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which has created a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153diminished sense of community.” <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n