Tag: carle place

Australian bakery chain Cobs Bread is now toast in two Long Island locations, putting a crimp in its planned area expansion. 

The chain abruptly closed its location in the Plainview Centre shopping complex earlier this month after it had only first opened this summer. The company also recently pulled out of a location it had leased in the Parkway Plaza shopping center in Carle Place before that planned store opened its doors. 

Cobs Bread had high hopes for making dough here. After debuting in the U.S. 10 years ago with a store in Stamford, Conn. and a second in Greenwich, Conn., the company set its sights on Long Island. The chain opened its first area bakery at 2013 Merrick Road in Merrick in Dec. 2023 and added another four months later at 3187 Long Beach Road in Oceanside. 

Unfortunately, Cobs Bread’s plans to rise in Plainview and Carle Place didn’t pan out. 

Karen Frost-Spokes, vice president of Cobs Bread USA, told LIBN that while the stores in Merrick and Oceanside are performing well and “showing strong community engagement and sales,” the decision to close Plainview and abort the Carle Place opening “was part of a broader strategic shift to focus resources on high-performing areas and ensure long-term sustainability.” She added that the “decision reflects our commitment to strengthening our foundation and positioning ourselves for smarter expansion in the U.S. market.” 

The Long Island bakery landscape has been transformed in recent years, with a shrinking number of family-owned independent stores facing increasing competition from global and regional chains like Paris Baguette, Tous Les Jours and The French Workshop. 

However, Frost-Spokes said that the Plainview closure “was not directly due to competition from other bakery chains like Paris Baguette or other competitors,” even though Paris Baguette has a store in the same Plainview shopping center. 

Louis Biscotti, managing director and national food and beverage industry leader at C-Biz in Melville, said that while baked goods are popular with consumers, competition is fierce among chains and in-store bakeries, especially with rising input and labor costs. 

“I applaud strategic management decisions to close underperforming stores, especially in these difficult economic times,” Biscotti told LIBN. “Companies sometimes wait too long to pull the plug hoping for better results and close monitoring of profitability is key to making appropriate decisions.”   

Cobs Bread started in 1980 in Australia as a family-run business called Bakers Delight. It has since grown to become a global network with over 700 bakeries in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S. The Cobs Bread brand now has more than 130 bakeries in North America and expects to expand to over 350 bakeries in the U.S. and Canada by 2027, according to its website. 

The company gives back to local communities through its End of Day Giving program, where unsold bread is given to those in need. The initiative has so far racked up more than $300 million in donations. 

Though its Long Island stores are corporate-owned, Cobs Bread is seeking to expand through franchising. The all-in investment to open a Cobs Bread franchise ranges from $891,890 to $1.152 million, according to the company. 

For now, the chain’s expansion here remains unleavened. 

“At this time, there are no confirmed plans to open additional locations on Long Island,” Frost-Spokes said. “However, we remain committed to the U.S. market and are continually evaluating opportunities for future expansion based on performance data and market potential.”