What Is This Controversy With The Bakeries In Avalon, New Jersey

Since 1949, Kohler's Bakery was located at the corner of 27th Street and Dune Drive in Avalon for 75 summers, a Jersey Shore Tradition famous for its Cream Donuts. But with the famous Kohler's Bakery moving six blocks north and a new bakery moving into the 27th Street location, people are understandably confused about what is going on in Avalon.

But the above screenshot was taken before this post in the All Things Avalon Group on Facebook disappeared!  There was a lot of conversation (or consternation depending on who you ask) about what is going on with these bakeries.  I decided to take another screenshot of another post to document further before I started digging into what is going on with these Avalon Bakeries:

Let's go back to April of this year when Colleen Quinn-Maxwell announced that after 74 years the Summer of 2023 would be Kohler's Bakery final summer due to no agreement in place beyond September to continue business operations. Colleen owned the business for 17 years and was the fifth owner/operator of the local business since Mr. and Mrs. Kohler opened the bakery in 1949.

After the Summer of 2023 came to an end, the above cryptic message was posted on Facebook and Instagram in September about new owners coming soon for Kohler's Bakery. Finally, in November it was revealed the new owner is Christina Maria Belmonte and the business will be moving to a new location behind Circle Pizza at 224 21st Street in Avalon.

Now at the old location of Kohler's Bakery is a new business that led to some confusion for local residents: a new bakery has opened called 27th Street Bakery. Owned by Maeve McNamara and her husband Andrew Stanton, they are locals who live in Avalon. In the comments of the now disappeared post in the All Things Avalon Facebook Group, McNamara said the following:

"(My husband and I) are purchasing the condo unit that was the prior location of Kohler’s. The entire building was never for sale and was never in danger of demolition....We had the opportunity to purchase the space that had been rented by Kohler’s, and while our hope was to purchase the business as well, that didn’t pan out. We decided to move forward and create a new bakery. I worked at Kohler’s for 10 summers and my aunts owned it for over 15 years, which provided us with the support and expertise needed to undertake the endeavor."

According to their website and Facebook page, the goal is for 27th Street Bakery to be open year-round to be a place for locals to visit for seasonal baked items, coffee, and more. The new location for Kohler's Bakery on 21st Street is projected to open in the Spring of 2024.

I hope the residents of Avalon and neighboring communities support both of these new business owners. These people are passionate about their bakery operations and want to give their customers a quality product.  Who has the best building or donuts is less important than it is to supporting local owners of small businesses because that is how we as neighbors show how serious we are about investing in the people who live and work in our local community.