Panera Bread is making big changes for the future.
Panera Bread is a popular fast-casual restaurant that sets out to serve food in a warm, welcoming environment from people who care. The company began in 1987 as St. Louis Bread Company, a humble community bakery founded with a sourdough starter from San Francisco and “a dream of putting a loaf of bread in every arm.” Today, the brand has greatly expanded into of the country’s most recognizable quick-service bakeries and currently operates in 48 states.
In New York alone, the company already operates seven different locations across the city. Now though, Panera will soon be debuting a brand new service concept designed for urban areas and will be launching the very first one in New York. The new concept, dubbed Panera To Go, is designed to lean into off-premises dining and will feature a 1,000 square feet pickup-only store with no seating. The new Panera To Go (which is the first location to launch), will be arriving soon at 110 University Place. What Now New York previously covered the arrival of its neighbor, Serafina Express, which will be located in the same building.
Additionally, Panera also has plans in place to develop a second store concept inside Hearst Tower at 949 Eighth Avenue. The second store is expected to function as Panera’s “Urban Flagship Store” and will occupy 2,510 square feet on the ground floor of the 46-story building. The new Panera urban formats are expected to be sleeker and feature more modern design touches and color palettes in order to compliment the needs of the market.
Panera is planning a significant expansion for 2023, and is looking to grow in new markets with their new store formats, including non-traditional locations like hospitals and universities. For more information on all things Panera, you can follow the company on Instagram.
