Avalon bakery plans $2.2M development

By Michael Martinez | The Detroit News

November 15, 2012

“The quick success [[of Avalon’s café inside Henry Ford Hospital on West Grand Boulevard) and growing demand for Avalon products in suburban Detroit and Ann Arbor has prompted our expansion,” co-owner Ann Perrault, right, said in a statement. Co-owner Jackie Victor is shown on the left. [[Clarence Tabb, Jr./The Detroit News)

Detroit — Avalon International Breads, a Midtown fixture since 1997, will open a substantially larger bakery and retail facility in early 2013 that will more than double its workforce, the company is set to announce today.

Avalon City Ovens, a 50,000-square-foot facility, will open at 6555 E. Forrest next year as part of a $2.2 million economic growth project, said co-owner Ann Perrault. The building, with an Italian-made artisan deck oven, will be used for all of the organic bakery's food production and help it expand its product line.

As part of its growth, the company's flagship store at 422 W. Willis will relocate to 441 Canfield next spring, Perrault said.

"The quick success [[of Avalon's café inside Henry Ford Hospital on West Grand Boulevard) and growing demand for Avalon products in suburban Detroit and Ann Arbor has prompted our expansion," Perrault said in a statement.

...

The new facility will employ 100 bakers, drivers, sales and customer service workers. Avalon has a tradition of hiring locally, paying workers above market rates and providing health care benefits.

"Not only do we employ people in Detroit, we try to talk others into moving here," she said. "This is how we need to rebuild our city."