Bimbo Bakeries to build new Lake Zurich distribution center
Bimbo Bakeries USA plans to expand its distribution footprint in a Lake Zurich business park.
Village board members last week approved a plan for construction of a 20,000-square-foot Bimbo warehouse and distribution building. The structure would rise in a business park at 845 Telser Road.
Bimbo already occupies a building just south of where the new facility would be built. Kelly Mills, a senior project engineer for Lyons-based Becknell Industrial, said her company would construct and own the facility, then rent it to Bimbo.
In addition to its namesake Bimbo brand, the company has a portfolio with Thomas' English muffins, Entenmann's, Beefsteak and Sara Lee. Public sales are not planned from the new Lake Zurich operation.
“The facility will be a warehouse and distribution facility for Bimbo Bakeries,” Mills said during a planning and zoning commission public hearing before the issue reached the village board. “They're not selling any muffins that fall off the truck or anything like that here (in Lake Zurich).”
Bimbo would have 69 parking spaces, mainly for route drivers who travel to work in their own vehicles and switch to company trucks. Mills said some Bimbo drivers bring their company trucks home.
Still to be determined is whether Bimbo would have a road directly connecting the new facility to the current operation to the south on Telser Road. Officials said the existing Bimbo operation is part of a business condominium association that has yet to approve the proposal for the connecting road.
AFCO Products executive Ken Klancnik said his business and others in the condo association are concerned about the potential volume of Bimbo's truck traffic. AFCO, which is near Bimbo on Commerce Drive, is a precision screw machine components manufacturing company.
“We are concerned these trucks ... are going to be quite large going between the two (Bimbo) facilities,” Klancnik said.
Bimbo spokesman Shane Summrow didn't return a message seeking comment Tuesday. Mexico-based Grupo Bimbo is parent company of the U.S. operation.