urbanSTL

What about the new office bldg at Hanley and 40? (That's not Meridian, correct? -- Isn't Meridian the extension of the lifestyle center across from Galleria?)

^ The Meridian is the development @ hanley and 40 with the new office building and best buy, Sports Authority, Mens Warehouse etc.



The parking garage banner says the office building will be ready in the spring (if memory serves)

Actually, I didn't think it was as simple as StL bread co being bought out by Panera. As I recall, the guy who owned Au Bon Pain sould that company so that he could buy Bread Co. Then he used the left over money to expand the company nationally, at which time, he renamed it Panera. My history could be off but I thought that was how it happened.

^ Think you're right...



Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panera_Bre ... te_history

Corporate history



In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the Saint Louis Bread Company and renovated the 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area.



In May 1999, in order to expand Panera Bread into a national chain, Au Bon Pain Co. divested itself of all other chains (including Au Bon Pain, which is now owned by Compass Group North America). Au Bon Pain Co. then renamed itself Panera Bread Company. The company now operates or franchises over 1,020 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in 38 states and 17 manufacturing plants to support the bakery-cafés.



In the St. Louis area, the stores themselves are still branded as The St. Louis Bread Company and nicknamed "BreadCo" by locals. The menu is the same as Panera in other markets. In the store, there is a mix of branding. While many promotional materials in store and often the receipts do refer to Panera, "St. Louis Bread Company" is used on cups and napkins.

bpe235 wrote:^ The Meridian is the development @ hanley and 40 with the new office building and best buy, Sports Authority, Mens Warehouse etc.



The parking garage banner says the office building will be ready in the spring (if memory serves)

The Meridian building is home to a majority of BJC's IT Staff... They move a couple years ago from Clayton Ave on the BJC campus...

^ Thanks, I always wondered what was up above.

Rather than some new headquarters Castle in Boston, frankly the only move Panera should be making right now is to get off their ass, find new management, and get their stock price back up. When it has dropped from $72 to $41 in less than two years it won't be long before they are bought out anyway and the name changed to Carl Icahn soup and biscuit kitchen.

ginbudjim wrote:Rather than some new headquarters Castle in Boston, frankly the only move Panera should be making right now is to get off their ass, find new management, and get their stock price back up. When it has dropped from $72 to $41 in less than two years it won't be long before they are bought out anyway and the name changed to Carl Icahn soup and biscuit kitchen.

Their stock has sucked. I didn't have much in them, but I got out with the slimmest of profits.

this is good enough for me...they are not moving their HQ to Boston! Downtown needs to step up and corral this company!



Panera Bread Co. looking to consolidate local offices

By Jeremiah McWilliams

10/26/2007 12:54 pm

Panera Bread Co. wants to consolidate its two local headquarters operations into a single site in the St. Louis area.



The seller of sandwiches, soup and coffee is officially based in Richmond Heights but has an additional headquarters operation in Brentwood.



Company spokesman Andrew Carlson said Panera is looking for a site that could combine the 300 or so employees currently split between Richmond Heights and Brentwood. “It’s hard to put a specific time” on when the move could occur, he said today.



Carlson also said that the company is currently only considering the metro St. Louis area for a new headquarters and is not mulling moving its headquarters to Boston, where several top executives are based. “Boston is not an option for us,” he said.

I currently work in the Center 40 building where Panera has a large presence. They are on the entire 3rd floor, I believe. My company is on the 7th floor and we are moving to West County ( ). Last week 5 Panera people walked through my office. We occupy over half of the floor and most of the other half is vacant. I believe they are moving more employees over to Center 40. I would not be surprised if they take over this building and make it their new headquarters. That would be good for the region.

DOGTOWNB&R wrote:I currently work in the Center 40 building where Panera has a large presence. They are on the entire 3rd floor, I believe. My company is on the 7th floor and we are moving to West County ( ). Last week 5 Panera people walked through my office. We occupy over half of the floor and most of the other half is vacant. I believe they are moving more employees over to Center 40. I would not be surprised if they take over this building and make it their new headquarters. That would be good for the region.

where is this "center 40" building you speak of?





EDIT: 1600 Brentwood, just south of 40

Was the article above from the Post? STL Business journal claims they are staying.



http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stor ... 2&ana=e_du

DOGTOWNB&R wrote:I currently work in the Center 40 building where Panera has a large presence. They are on the entire 3rd floor, I believe. My company is on the 7th floor and we are moving to West County ( ). Last week 5 Panera people walked through my office. We occupy over half of the floor and most of the other half is vacant. I believe they are moving more employees over to Center 40. I would not be surprised if they take over this building and make it their new headquarters. That would be good for the region.

they also took over the entire second floor not too long ago.

FOR THE RECORD... Headquarters to remain in St. Louis!







Panera says company will stay in St. Louis



St. Louis Business Journal

Monday, October 29, 2007

Panera Bread Co. says its new headquarters will be based in the St. Louis area.



Panera is looking for 80,000 square feet of office space with room for additional growth. The company's headquarters is currently split between offices at 6710 Clayton Road in Richmond Heights and 1600 S. Brentwood in Brentwood.



In an article in the Oct. 29 print edition of the Business Journal, sources said Panera is looking both in St. Louis and in Boston, where many of its top executives are based.



In a statement released Oct. 27, Panera said it is searching for space in the St. Louis area to combine its current office locations in Richmond Heights and Brentwood into one location. "Panera Bread plans to continue its 20-year presence in St. Louis and looks forward to growing both its St. Louis and Boston-area offices as they continue to expand," according to the statement.



Panera Bread (Nasdaq: PNRA) owns and franchises more than 1,100 bakery-cafes under the names Panera Bread and Saint Louis Bread Co.

matguy70 wrote:FOR THE RECORD... Headquarters to remain in St. Louis!







Panera says company will stay in St. Louis



St. Louis Business Journal

Monday, October 29, 2007

Panera Bread Co. says its new headquarters will be based in the St. Louis area.



Panera is looking for 80,000 square feet of office space with room for additional growth. The company's headquarters is currently split between offices at 6710 Clayton Road in Richmond Heights and 1600 S. Brentwood in Brentwood.



In an article in the Oct. 29 print edition of the Business Journal, sources said Panera is looking both in St. Louis and in Boston, where many of its top executives are based.



In a statement released Oct. 27, Panera said it is searching for space in the St. Louis area to combine its current office locations in Richmond Heights and Brentwood into one location. "Panera Bread plans to continue its 20-year presence in St. Louis and looks forward to growing both its St. Louis and Boston-area offices as they continue to expand," according to the statement.



Panera Bread (Nasdaq: PNRA) owns and franchises more than 1,100 bakery-cafes under the names Panera Bread and Saint Louis Bread Co.

That's exactly what I had.



Serious question: are admins the only one that can post whole articles? (As Mel Brooks said in History of the World Part 1: "It's good to be the king.")

question..how far does the name "St louis Bread Company" go from the STL metro? In other words, does it goes as far as (West) Columbia, (East) Ofallon, Ill., South ? and North ? and why did they change the name from STL Bread Co. to Panera for the rest of the country?

well, I remember driving home from texas in 2004 and it was St. Louis Bread in Tulsa, but Panera in Rolla...

dweebe wrote:
Serious question: are admins the only one that can post whole articles? (As Mel Brooks said in History of the World Part 1: "It's good to be the king.")

I'm assuming that is the whole article. To answer your question, no one should be posting whole articles. [-X

This news warms the cockles of my heart. This, and hearing that Jay Leno will finally be retiring in 2009.

Jay Leno is retiring in 2009?

second most welcome retirement in that year

So are there any news on this? Did they figure out where they are going to be located?

Panera is moving more employees to the Center 40 building, officially. I think this is likely a temporary place for them, but they are taking over most of the 7th floor, which my company is moving from. Their reps walked through my office yesterday and confirmed the move. They are actually taking all of our cubes and desks. This tells me that they are not investing much into this office. I know they are known to be cheap with their offices, but they are taking anything and everything my company leaves.



FYI_ Center 40 is the glass building right across from Brentwood Square on Brentwood Blvd. It is right next to the Joseph White building.