March 5, 2020

Which came first, the donut or the bakery? In this case, what really came first was the commitment to the revitalization of downtown Albion. After that, there really isn’t a mystery as to why the notion of having a bakery in Albion was hatched.

Whether it’s a lunch break, a meeting place, or a stop before work for a cup of coffee, people come to the Foundry Bakehouse and Deli in downtown Albion for many reasons.

It’s a success story that is helping to revitalize a community “one donut at a time.” Because when someone buys a donut, a sandwich, a bowl of soup, or any of the Foundry Bakehouse and Deli’s many offerings, they are playing an active role in Albion’s success.

It’s not about making some dough.

“We didn’t start a bakery because we had a passion for baking. We started it because we were determining the best ways to build a downtown, and many people suggested that successful downtowns have bakeries,” notes Emily Dobbins-Verbeke, General Manager of the Foundry Bakehouse and Deli in downtown Albion.

The new bakery shares this popularity with its early predecessor, Mounteer’s Sanitary Bakery, a popular bakery that opened in the early 1900s. With the opening of the new Foundry Bakehouse and Deli, Albion residents had another way to move forward while embracing Albion’s rich manufacturing past.

The ongoing journey.

It’s the latest stage in an ongoing journey that Albion is on. It’s taken a huge amount of leadership from all touchpoints – from the city, the community, the county, and the state – to get Albion to the place it is today.
This caring commitment has been true for all the downtown establishments that have invested fully in this vision of a beautiful and better Albion. The Foundry is the latest shining example of this, and they are thrilled to be able to meet the town’s needs and expectations.
One donut might not change the world, but it can help change the dynamics of a city looking toward a brighter future.