Iconic Hawaii Love’s Bakery to shut down after 170 years

Hawaii Love’s Bakery is blaming the closing of its operations on a drop in business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement it said the bakery was “seriously delinquent in rent and unable to qualify for the second round of PPP funding.”

The kamaaina company has been in operations for 170 years, opening in 1851. Come March 31, all of its 231 employees will be laid off and the doors to the commercial operation will close.

“While we hoped that our business could continue under the circumstances, Love’s Bakery … has decided to close and cease all operations on March 31,” the company said in a notice to the state Department of Labor. The notice was signed by Daryce Hamamoto, Love’s interim president.