Barbara’s Bakery Leaving Town; Marina Business Center Adds Four

, the cereal company best known for its Puffins brand, and its parent company, Weetabix North America, announced plans to move its Petaluma operations to Massachusetts by July.

“Over the next six months, Weetabix will relocate its operations in Petaluma, Calif., and consolidate all business functions including marketing, sales, finance, customer service and human resources to a main office near its Clinton, Mass., manufacturing facility,” the company said in a statement. 

It’s unclear if its 24 employees will be given the option to transfer as well, but Weetabix, which also manufacturers cereal products in the United Kingdom, has offered to work with those employees affected by the change.

Barbara's Bakery was founded in 1971 by 17-year-old Barbara Jaffe, who opened a natural grains bakery in Palo Alto. She sold it to Wheetabix in 1986, and it came to Petaluma two years later.

The company also stated, “Barbara’s is proud of the organic teaching gardens created in the Petaluma School District as a result of a 10-year, $50,000 grant and of the thousands of volunteer hours its employees have dedicated to area not-for-profit organizations over the years.”

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added four new companies to its, the same structure the houses the along the Petaluma River.

“This property offers premium non-corporate-like space options for smaller organizations and enables them to experience the tranquil workplace environment of the Petaluma River Marina,” said Scott Stranzl, vice president of leasing at Basin Street.

The four businesses that leased space were Cellular World, H.M. Vreeland and Son Insurance Agency, Grade A Tutoring Center and Hanford ARC.

“It’s a flight to quality,” said Stanzl, who said that businesses have been filling more office space in and around Petaluma since last year.

Celllular World, a cell phone retailer, will use the space for corporate offices; H.M Vreeland will have its first office space, after previously working out of a home; Grade A comes over from a distressed property; and Hanford, a habitat restoration company, will take over 842 square feet of space.

Down to Business is a weekly column that focuses on what's new with local companies. Got a tip? Email it to reporter Kevin King or to Patch editor Karina Ioffee.