The ownership group for the Collingswood bakery announced the decision in a social media posting after customers had reported its impending closure.
By Matt Skoufalos | April 26, 2023
File photo: Manny Agigian (left) and Al DiBartolo, Jr., of DiBartolo Bakery in Collingswood, 2014. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
After nearly 33 years of operation, DiBartolo Bakery will shut its doors in Collingswood for good this weekend.
The company, which was founded in Pennsauken in 1969, and relocated to Collingswood in 1990, occupied a familiar corner on the 600 block of Haddon Avenue for the next three decades.
There, brothers Al and Mike DiBartolo carried on the traditions that had been established by their late father, Benjamin, and mother, Nina, providing baked goods to wholesale and retail customers throughout the Delaware Valley for 54 years.
In 2020, the DiBartolo family sold the business to Genesis Hospitality Group of Hamilton, an entity that maintains a portfolio of food, beverage, and hospitality concepts, including the Yardley Inn, Washington’s Crossing Inn, Lambertville Station Restaurant and Inn, and Chez Alice Patisserie.
After that acquisition, Genesis leveraged the DiBartolo brand into a second bakery location in downtown Haddonfield, DiBartolo European Bakery, which opened in November 2020 and closed in February 2023.
Genesis announced the closure of DiBartolo Bakery in Collingswood with social media posts Wednesday, after multiple customers reported that staff had told them Saturday, April 29, would be its final day of operation there.
“It has been sweet! Thank you to our loyal customers for allowing us to be a part of your special gatherings and celebrations for more than 50 years,” the post read. “All good things must come to an end. We will officially close our doors on Saturday April 29. All existing orders will be fulfilled until May 31.”
Multiple attempts to reach a Genesis spokesperson for further comment went unanswered.
“It’s surprising to the Borough,” said Collingswood Borough Administrator Cassandra Duffey. “We found out the same way everybody else did. They’re definitely an institution. It’s not like any business closing; they’re a part of the community.”
In its long history in Collingswood, DiBartolo Bakery was featured on Kerry Vincent’s Save My Bakery on the Cooking Channel in 2013. Not long after that makeover, the bakery also needed a substantial repair when a driver accidentally backed into its kitchen.
The Save My Bakery appearance became a prelude to a television resume that third-generation baker, Al DiBartolo, Jr., would come to build in various TV baking competitions, including Cake Boss, Halloween Wars, and TLC’s Next Great Baker, among others.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
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