The landmark McMillan’s Bakery’s site has a buyer, who hopes to revive it

The building that housed the landmark McMillan’s Bakery in Haddon Township, which closed in May after 86 years, has been sold.

Entrepreneur Tom Whitman, who also owns South Jersey institutions Del Buono’s Bakery and Carmen’s Deli, said he plans to open the bakery at 15-17 Haddon Ave. early next year after a top-to-bottom renovation, which has begun.

Whitman told The Inquirer that he planned to spend $1.5 million to $2 million, including the real estate purchase and extensive upgrades. He also said he has brought on board Doug Biemiller, a grandson of founders George and Evelyn McMillan, to oversee baking and production.

What is unclear about the property’s future is whether the McMillan’s name will hang again outside. The McMillan’s estate owns the rights, and Whitman told The Inquirer that his lawyer was in talks with family members. At the time of McMillan’s closing, some family members had posted on social media that they considered McMillan’s to be gone forever, as no relative had been willing or able to purchase the business.

If Whitman cannot make a deal with the estate, he said, “I’ll just change the name to Del Buono’s if I have to, but I don’t want to. The branding is important.”

Reviving McMillan’s would be Whitman’s third such move, and, he said, would be “a labor of love.” Twelve years ago, he bought the nearly century-old Del Buono’s Bakery in Haddon Heights from Constantino “Nino” Del Buono, and about eight years ago, he bought Carmen’s Deli, now with four locations, from the founding Giglio family. The operations employ about 150 people and run 24 hours a day, he said. “It’s lots of moving parts, but I sort of thrive on it.”

Whitman, 62, a Domino’s Pizza franchisee for 30 years before divesting several years ago, called it “a good fit. My wheelhouse is the bakery, and I’m not a baker. I’m an entrepreneur who owns a bakery.”

Whitman said he had considered buying McMillan’s when it was offered for sale last year, but stepped aside. He ended up buying it last month from South Jersey construction company owner Mark Springer, who had purchased it over the summer, after Biemiller agreed to work for Whitman. “Once I had Doug in my fold, it was a no-brainer,” he said, adding, “an expensive no-brainer. It just made good sense.”

The sale was first reported by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Whitman said he was prepared for the challenges of living up to expectations. “McMillan’s customers are tough,” he said. “They don’t like to see change, but they also don’t like to see it closed.”