The Oberweis Dairy at an Aurora location on Randall Road.
Sun-Times file
Oberweis Dairy Inc. will lay off 127 workers at its North Aurora plant, days after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The company, known for its ice cream stores and milk packaged in glass bottles, notified the state that the job cuts will start June 11 due to the plant’s closure, in a filing under the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
Obwerweis Dairy did not immediately return requests for comment.
Oberweis filed on Friday a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections in the Northern District of Illinois, court records show. The company stated it owed more than $4 million in total unsecured claims to its top 20 creditors, with its largest debt of more than $774,000 to a Hudson-based transportation company.
Oberweis currently employs about 1,100, including many part-time workers at its stores. In the summer, when ice cream demand peaks, its workforce often swells to more than 1,500.
The family business was founded in 1915 by Peter Oberweis, an Aurora dairy farmer who began selling milk from the back of his horse drawn wagon, according to the company’s website.
It opened its first ice cream shop in Aurora in 1951. The company has more than 30 locations throughout Illinois, as well as shops in St. Louis, Indiana and Michigan, according to its website. It’s unclear if any of those locations will close.
Oberweis Dairy is owned by the family of Republican state politician Jim Oberweis.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.