Beloved Johnson County bakery was about to close. Now ‘many potential buyers’ want it

Great Harvest Bread Co. had announced it would close its area location this week after more than 40 years in the metro.

But could it reopen?

Sarah and Brian Berlin purchased the current location — in Corinth Square at 4002 W. 83rd St., Prairie Village — in 2015. They planned to close permanently at the end of business Wednesday.

But then the corporate office stepped in, saying they were looking for new franchisees for the spot.

On Saturday, the Berlins posted an update on the bakery’s Facebook page saying they are in talks with “many potential buyers” and are cautiously optimistic that they will be able to transition the bakery and its recipes to a new owner.

“We’re looking for less stress. So we are taking a pause. It’s not that we are closing closing,” Sarah Berlin told The Star on Monday afternoon. “We are doing everything we can to work with potential buyers to make sure they and our customers have a smooth transition.”

They will do some maintenance on equipment later this week and then plan to serve a limited lunch menu in the coming weeks if they transition to a new owner.

“We don’t have anything nailed down. We are still working on those deals. I never expected this,” she said. “These past few weeks have been very intense with the outpouring of support. Our customers were saying, ‘We just can’t let this go. We can’t let this bakery go away.’”

She said every customer phone call seems to come with a personal story — the first time they came to the bakery, their favorite thing to order, what type of sandwich they will make with their latest bread purchase.

The franchise makes its bread from scratch daily, including cinnamon chip, honey whole wheat, harvest white and challah (using a customer’s family recipe). Also on the menu: sandwiches, muffins, scones, cookies and bars, and buns. And it sells granola, pancake mix, dog biscuits and other specialty items.

The area franchise opened in south Kansas City in fall 1981 before moving to 95th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park, and then to its current site under different owners.

Another franchisee owns a location in Lawrence.

This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 2:00 PM.