Fresh off of a new era with an updated menu, portions, and prices, Panera Bread is getting ready to open a new location in St. Johns at 55 Beachwalk Shore Dr.
The company recently submitted a plan review application to open a new corporate-owned standalone site near the Shoppes at Beachwalk Shopping Mall. The new Panera will be built from the ground up and next to the freestanding Starbucks. There is no timeline for this new site, but it will likely be at the end of the year or potentially next year. While there are over a dozen Panera locations throughout Northeast Florida, this will be the first one in St. Johns.
The new location follows Panera Bread’s receiving the Employer of Choice award in the fast-casual restaurant segment from Black Box Intelligence for the second year in a row, according to a recent press release. The award is based on workforce data and recognizes Panera’s low hourly and management turnover rates, competitive compensation, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“When our team members are happy, our guests are happy, and we are focused on our employees’ experience through business training, education on leadership and life skills, ways to serve the community, and more,” KJ Payette, Chief People Officer, said in a press release. “We’re committed to maintaining our company as an employer of choice in fast casual and to ensuring Panera is a place of warmth, belonging, growth, and trust for all.”
The Employer of Choice recognition comes as Panera ushers in a new era with a revamped menu focused on extensive guest input and an innovative operating model that is grounded in feedback from Panera bakery-cafe team members. Through a simplified and more efficient operating model that streamlines Panera’s pantry of high-quality ingredients and reduces operational complexity, Panera team members can more easily deliver a great guest experience faster and accurately while achieving better consistency and quality any time of day.
“At Panera, we believe our General Managers are our most important leaders, and we aim to empower them to look after our team members who can, in turn, delight our guests,” Debbie Roberts, Chief Operating Officer, said in a press release. “We believe that our approach improves operator performance and quality, bolsters management retention, and fosters team stability, which results in a higher level of consistency and guest service within our bakery-cafes.”
