(KRON) -- A beloved bakery that operated for decades in Berkeley's Elmwood District closed its doors over the weekend and claimed its outspoken politics were partially to blame for its demise. Nabolom Bakery & Pizzeria on Russell Street served its last pie Sunday, after 50 years in Berkeley.
In a post on Facebook regarding the closure, the bakery cited factors that included the challenge of meeting demand for a business model based on volume, a low return on investment and affordability for workers.
However, beyond the economic reasons, Nabolom's co-owners, Julia Elliott and Sabra Stepak also said politics played a role.
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"We've always been upfront about our political views," the post read. "It has now threatened our livelihood." The bakery, according to the post, had experienced a backlash over a "defund the police" mural and a "Teach Palestine" poster.
Nabolom also said it was kicked off Instagram for reposting an image of a BART car tagged with an anti-ICE message, resulting in a 20% drop in sales. Nabolom also maintained its opposition to up-zoning "brought word of a boycott" on list-serves, Reddit and WhatsApp.
Elliott and Stepak took charge of the bakery a decade ago when the original collective behind Nabolom dissolved.
"We find ourselves experiencing many of the problems the original Nabolom collective had in their last years," Elliott and Stepak wrote in their post, "affordability/living expenses for our workers -- they can't afford to live in Berkeley and work at a bakery -- competition for skilled workers and customers, a low ROI for capital investments."
"We raised prices and the gross stayed flat," they added. "Raising prices is more consequential for some customers than others, we didn't love that."
"We did our very best & have left everything on the field," they continued. "We're proud of the relationships we've built and the food we made. We're proud of being part of the Berkeley we have loved for over 50 years."
The duo said they still have hope that some "young energetic, experienced food lover" will come along and step in to keep the bakery going and "save this treasure for future generations."
