HONOLULU, HAWAII — Saint-Germain America, Inc. will close all its baking operations by the end of August. The company, which operates five bakeries and one central bakery on Oahu, announced the decision in June.

“The persistence of a tough economy in recent years has resulted in a downturn in our business,” said Koichi Yoshida, president of Saint-Germain America, Inc. “Under such circumstances, we have made the difficult decision to close down our four retail bakery locations (the Kahala, Waipahu, Beretania and Dillingham stores) and to cease our other baker operations by the end of August 2018.

“Although this has been a very difficult decision, we wish to express our heartfelt appreciation and ask for your understanding. Especially to all of our customers who have patronized our bakeries since we first opened, we thank you for gracing Saint-Germain with your warm aloha throughout the years.”

Saint-Germain began as a small section of Tokyu Foods and sold fresh Japanese-style bread and French-style pastries. In November 1977, Saint-Germain Bakery opened its first store in Hawaii inside Shirokiya, located in the Ala Moana Shopping Center. Two years later, a central bakery facility was opened to accommodate the increase in production and anticipated increase in the number of stores.

In 1990, Saint-Germain acquired Dee Lite Bakery to provide local bakery products.