NEWS

Corn Holes force 130 year old Elkhart bakery to shut down

            By Bob Cook, THG staff writer

The baking business has always been a labor of love to Elkhart’s Abbott family.  Now after 130 years in business, Abbott Bakeries were forced to close their doors this week due to bankruptcy.  More than 60 workers are now unemployed, including several members of the Abbott family, who have owned and operated the company since its foundation by William Abbott in 1873.

Abbott Bakeries, which also has stores in Mishawaka and Goshen, have closed all three stores because of a lack of revenue generated the last several months.  After being the leading bakers in the area for generations, the community has boycotted the bakeries due to negative publicity the company has received over marketing their bite-sized corn fritters.

“Our corn fritters are very popular so we decided to create a bite-sized version that could be easily carried and eaten anywhere,” said Larry Abbott, manager of the Goshen store and grandson to company owner and family patriarch Joseph Abbott, “We never dreamed they would lead to the downfall of the company,”

It seems a poor marketing decision on the part of 91 year-old Joseph Abbott has incensed the community so extremely that many long-time customers had stopped frequenting Abbott’s stores.  When trying to decide what to call their new sweet-tasting corn treats, Mr. Abbott decided they should be named “Corn Holes” since they resembled doughnut holes.  Apparently he was unaware of the double meaning these words hold.

“How is a 90 year-old guy supposed to know that “corn hole” could mean something else?  Paw-paw (Joseph) seemed so proud to have come up with what he thought was a great name for our product.  We all love him so much that none of us had the heart to tell him.  We had to use it.  We figured people would like them so much they would overlook the name,” said grandson and production manager Steve Abbott.

Soon after choosing a name for the new product, Abbott’s began their marketing campaign.  Billboards began popping up in the region advertising the mini fritters with slogans like “Running late? Pack some Corn Holes!” and “Corn Holes: Once you pop’em, you can’t stop!”  Needless to say, locals did not respond well to the ads.

“It is bad enough you can’t let your kids surf the Internet or watch TV without seeing that kind of smut,” said local minister Thomas Riley, “Now you can’t even pick up blueberry muffins after Sunday service without reading that filth in the drive thru window.  The Abbotts will regret this when they are burning in hell with the devil and his reapers!”

Even long time friends of the Abbotts are shocked.  “They have always seemed like good people, giving to local charities and sponsoring youth sports.  Ol’ Joe used to even answer phones for the Jerry Lewis telethon until his hearing got so bad,” said local barber Sam McKenzie, “I can’t believe they would stoop so low just sell a few fritters.”

The Abbotts’s last-ditch effort to save the company by changing the name of their Corn Holes to “Joe Abbott’s Tasty Balls of Corn” failed.  The company had already dug a financial hole so deep there was no getting out.  Their creditors foreclosed on their outstanding loans, forcing the Abbotts to close their stores and sell off assets to pay the outstanding debts.

After 130 years, Elkhart and St. Joseph counties are going to have to go elsewhere for their baked goods.

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