For Sale: Great Harvest Bread Company

With all the agita in town over the closing of the Jefferson Market, the fact that Great Harvest Bread Company is up for sale may have slipped under the radar.

“After 15 years in business, a health issue is forcing Janene and Dan Centurione to sell,” is how the Ann Arbor News put it. Leave it to the S'News to under-report the story. “Janene, girl!” I exclaimed into the phone, “brace yourself – half of Ann Arbor is going to think you’re on death’s door.” The fact of the matter is that Janene has developed an asthma condition triggered by wheat flour dust (see bins right). A serious impediment for a baker, as you can imagine, but not life threatening.

With the Michigan economy in the toilet, and all the noise over on West Jefferson, you’d think now might be a bad time to sell a small business. But Janene is optimistic. Demand for whole-grain anything remains strong, customers are loyal, and her employees are stable. And she’s betting there are potential buyers in the area who are at the point in their lives when it’s time for a change. A Ford employee with a buyout, for instance, who isn’t ready to retire.

But the Centuriones have nurtured their bread store for over 15 years, and aren’t willing to sell it to just anyone. As Janene (left, with a customer) wrote in a recent e-newsletter, potential owners must “love hard work and laughter...Ann Arbor, our customer community and our awesome crew.”

As a fan of Great Harvest Bread Company, I’ve learned to adjust my definition of “locally owned.” I don’t look down on a business simply because it’s a chain. I look down on it if it’s a chain that ignores the idiosyncrasies of its community, exploits its employees, and channels all its resources to out-of-town owners or faceless stockholders. All these years, Great Harvest has been sensibly run by a local family, generous to the community, and supported employees who earn above minimum wage and receive benefits in a nurturing environment. As long as the new owners follow this model–and don’t tinker with the cinnamon chip loaf recipe–I'll remain a customer.