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Helms Bakery closes down again, just one year after being resurrected
The Helms Bakery sign in the Helms Bakery District in Culver City. The revived bakery will close Dec. 14 after just over a year in business.
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Helms Bakery closes down again, just one year after being resurrected
Another blow to LA's restaurant scene, Helms Bakery is closing its doors just over a year after reopening. Gab Chabran has more.
Topline:
The beloved Helms Bakery — an L.A. institution resurrected in November 2024 after more than a half-century — is closing again after just over a year in business, reflecting broader challenges facing independent restaurants across Los Angeles.
Why now: In an Instagram post, owner Sang Yoon cites the increasingly difficult operating environment for independent restaurants in Los Angeles, pointing to changed dining habits and economic pressures that have made it difficult to sustain the bakery in its current form. Yoon also owns Father's Office, the popular gastropub with locations in the Helms Bakery District on the Westside and Santa Monica. He closed Father's Office's Arts District location in September.
The backstory: The original Helms Bakery opened in Culver City in 1931 and became an L.A. icon, known for its fleet of yellow delivery trucks that brought fresh bread directly to Angelenos' doorsteps daily. The trucks became a fixture of the Southern California landscape before the bakery closed in 1969, unable to compete with rising costs and mass-produced supermarket bread.
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What's next: Helms Bakery will serve its last customers Dec. 14. Yoon noted in the closure announcement that the team is "looking forward to what the future holds," though no specific plans for a reopening or new location have been announced.
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