After the bakery Simply Bread opened in 2006, its artisan bread became the toast of the town.
Fans found it throughout Phoenix, including at Whole Foods, AJ's Fine Foods, the Boulders, Ritz-Carlton, Royal Palms, Luci's Healthy Marketplace in central Phoenix and at Simply Bread's first headquarters in a campus of green-colored buildings at 2117 N. 24th St., north of McDowell.
But Simply Bread, based in Chandler, closed abruptly in February. What began with popularity and promise deteriorated into a flurry of lawsuits, a threatened foreclosure, anger, recriminations and a restraining order.
Owner Harold Back fired key employees, who blame him for the demise of the bakery, and the bank and other creditors filed suits over non-payment.
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