Century-old Chicago bakery closing after sale to residential developer

A Chicago bakery run by four generations of the same family is closing at the end of the month after the owner sold the North Side property to a residential developer.

The Dinkel’s Bakery property, at 3329 North Lincoln Avenue, was bought by Senco Properties, the Chicago Tribune reported. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The bakery’s 79-year-old owner, Norman Dinkel, said he doesn’t know what the developer plans for the property. Senco couldn’t be reached for comment.

“I wanted to make sure that the property got closed before I announced my closing,” he told the Tribune. “I do know that the developer enjoys a good reputation, and I would never sell to anybody that does not enjoy a good reputation, because I feel it’s an obligation on my part to make sure that I leave this community as well as it is or better than it is.”

Dinkel’s opened in a nearby building in 1922 and moved to the current location in 1926. The three-story building was expanded in the 1930s, and the two-story main storefront at 3329 N. Lincoln Ave. was built after World War II, the Tribune reported.

Dinkel’s has about 25 employees and stayed open through the pandemic, when online orders from throughout the country rose 200 percent, Dinkel told the Tribune.

“All my employees are going to get some bonuses for sure,” he told the Tribune. “And we’re going to try to get some jobs. I think that’s going to be something that can be done, because there’s such a labor shortage. So I’m not worried about anybody being unemployed. This was the hardest thing that I’ve had to do, is tell my folks that it’s come to an end. Very hard.”

[Chicago Tribune] – Sam Lounsberry

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