Alessi Bakery 'Staying In Business,' Owner Says

TAMPA — Though its parent company has filed for protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and has more than $10 million in debts, it will be business as usual at the Alessi Bakery on Cypress Street, company chairman Phil Alessi Sr. said this afternoon.

"We are staying in business," Alessi said. "Nothing will change. We are keeping all the same employees. You won't notice anything different."

Alessi cited a familiar cause for the problems faced by the 100-year-old business – the slumping economy.

The company, he said, expanded its business to a 100,000-square-foot warehouse in 2007, just as the economy crashed and the real estate market imploded.

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