Did you know that Golden Krust was born in 1989, when Hawthorne father gathered the family together and suggested they "set up a little place" to sell Jamaican breads and buns?

Appreciation: Golden Krust founder's story inspired

Peter D. Kramer, pkramer@lohud.com Published 11:31 a.m. ET Dec. 3, 2017 | Updated 5:41 p.m. ET Dec. 3, 2017

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Did you know that Lowell Hawthorne, 57, the president and chief executive officer of Golden Krust Bakery and Grill, died Saturday in a suicide at the Bronx plant where he built his family-run company?

Did you know that the New York City Medical Examiner's office has ruled the Golden Krust CEO's death a suicide, saying the cause was a gunshot wound to the head?
 

Did you know that the successful Caribbean food chain Hawthorne created now reaches from East Coast storefronts and ShopRites to Costcos in California, with more than 120 franchises selling Jamaican beef patties, jerk chicken, sauces and authentic breads of the island?

Did you know that Golden Krust planned to build a $37 million world headquarters on Route 303 in Orangetown, and had signed papers with the Rockland County Industrial Development Agency to create more than 80 new manufacturing jobs there?

Did you know that Hawthorne established the Mavis and Ephraim Hawthorne Golden Krust Foundation, which for a dozen years has given out excellence awards and scholarships to those with roots in the Caribbean and beyond?

Did you know that Hawthorne, who lived in Greenburgh, liked to talk about challenges he had overcome to become a successful businessman?

Did you know that Hawthorne stocked inventory at the NYPD, studied at Bronx Community College and became an accountan?

Did you know that Hawthorne later became an accountant in the NYPD pensions department?

Did you know that Golden Krust was born in 1989, when Hawthorne father gathered the family together and suggested they "set up a little place" to sell Jamaican breads and buns?

Did you know that in 30 years, the family-run business has grown to occupy an entire city block on Park Avenue in the Bronx, between Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Zoo, plus it was there that Hawthorne took his life?

Founded: In the 1980s in St. Andrew, Jamaica, by Ephraim and Mavis Hawthorne. U.S. operations, with Lowell Hawthorne as CEO, began in 1989 on Gun Hill Road in the Bronx.

First factory: Opened in 1996 on Park Avenue in the Bronx.

Franchises: More than 120 in nine states.

Planned world headquarters: 17 acres at Route 303 at Al Foxie Way, Orangetown.

Scale: 100,000-square-foot, with bakery, corporate and distribution.

Bottom line: Facility is projected to cost $37.2 million

Tax exemptions: $1.2 million

New jobs: 83

Opening date: TBA

Web: www.goldenkrustbakery.com

Sources: Golden Krust website; Rockland Industrial Development Agency

 Now if you didn't know, now you know...



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