Reviewed by: Pat Byington
Inside look at new Factory at Golden Flake; opening June 1
Reading time: 4 minutes
Just west of I-65 in Birmingham, construction teams are hard at work transforming the former Golden Flake manufacturing plant into a new development for anchor tenant Southeastern Salvage.
We took a special inside tour of the former potato chip factory with Southeastern Salvage founder and owner Bubba Morgan to learn more.
A new life for the former Golden Flake Factory
If you ask a Birmingham native about Golden Flake potato chips, odds are they’ll tell you about going on an elementary school field trip to the company’s manufacturing facility in North Titusville. The highlight of the trip? Getting to try a “hot and fresh” Golden Flake potato chip right off the manufacturing line.
For 65 years—1958 to 2023—Golden Flake produced its potato chips, crackers, nuts and other snack foods out of a massive, 283,310-square-foot manufacturing facility at 1 Golden Flake Dr. However, in 2023, Golden Flake parent company Utz Brands., Inc. decided to close the Birmingham manufacturing facility for good.
Luckily, the Golden Flake factory didn’t sit vacant for long—the 36.7-acre property and its 283,310-square-foot warehouse attracted the eye of Bubba Morgan, owner and founder of Chattanooga-based Southeastern Salvage. In April of 2024, Morgan’s Chattanooga-based 2nd in Building Materials, Inc. purchased the factory from Utz Brands, Inc. for $6 million.
“We’re making some changes to update the facility, but by-and-large I want to leave the building as a blank slate. If a tenant wants to put a restaurant in one area, we can build out that space to fit their vision.”
Bubba Morgan, Owner and Founder, Southeastern Salvage
Once necessary changes are made to the former Golden Flake factory, Southeastern Salvage will move from its current location at 5421 Beacon Drive in Irondale to the repurposed facility, which the developers have named The Factory at Golden Flake.
“As Birmingham continues to grow, it has to grow in this direction. New developments have already started east, and you run into residential neighborhoods on the south and north sides of the city. I think The Factory at Golden Flake is going to be the catalyst for a new growth spurt on this western side of town.”
Bart Moore, Associate, IronVest Partners
Building “The Factory at Golden Flake”
It’s one thing to hear that the Golden Flake factory’s interior is 283,310 square feet; it’s another thing to see it in person. Inside, the former potato chip factory opens up into a cavernous warehouse with seemingly endless hallways, manufacturing rooms, meeting rooms and more.
When Southeastern Salvage moves to The Factory at Golden Flake this summer, the new facility will feature 66,000 square feet of exterior space for the company’s outdoor garden and patio center as well as 135,000 square feet of interior space—more than double the size of Southeastern Salvage’s current location in Irondale.
Even with Southeastern Salvage’s new storefront taking up 135,000 square feet, that leaves over half of The Factory at Golden Flake’s space up for grabs. Bubba Morgan already has several ideas for tenants that might find the space appealing:
- The former pork rind manufacturing room—with its massive ceiling—would lend itself to an indoor rock-climbing gym.
- One large room contains seven loading doors leading to an outdoor dock/patio; ideal for a large craft brewery.
“On the other side of I-65, warehouse space ranges from $27 to $37 per square foot. Here, I’m looking at charging $4.75 per square foot for 76,000 square feet of warehouse space—just a couple of minutes from downtown Birmingham.”
Bubba Morgan, Owner and Founder, Southeastern Salvage
Part of the reason Morgan can offer such pricing is his thriftiness; whenever possible, he has reused or repurposed leftover material and equipment from the Golden Flake factory.
For instance, Morgan has applied for a city permit to combine three leftover corn silos into an 80-foot sign for The Factory at Golden Flake, similar to the iconic water tower sign at The Factory at Franklin in Tennessee.
According to Bubba Morgan, Southeastern Salvage aims to complete its move to The Factory at Golden Flake in time to open on Sunday, June 1; coincidentally, the same day Birmingham was founded in 1871.
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