Panera Bread headquarters in play
300 corporate employees live here, but top execs, board members commute from Boston
St. Louis Business Journal - by Lisa R. Brown
Panera Bread Co., one of St. Louis' largest homegrown public companies, is looking to expand to a new headquarters. The rising prominence of the bakery-cafe chain may come at a cost to St. Louis, however. Among the options is a move to Boston, where Panera's executive team is based.
Panera's corporate offices in St. Louis are split between two locations, Richmond Heights and Brentwood. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Kip confirmed Panera is looking to consolidate its two offices into one location by 2010, when the leases expire. Kip said Panera wants to stay in St. Louis, but relocating to Boston also is under consideration, according to those familiar with the company's search efforts.
Panera is scouting for about 80,000 square feet of office space with room for additional growth, and has looked at both existing office buildings and sites in St. Louis for a build-to-suit facility. The company began leasing 33,000 square feet at 6710 Clayton Road in October 2000. When it outgrew that space, Panera leased part of a floor at an office building at 1600 S. Brentwood. After expanding there twice since February 2005, Panera is in the midst of a third expansion and will occupy 26,000 square feet of space before the year is over.
"We have looked at everything from downtown out to the airport, to I-270 and 40, including Illinois," Kip said. "We want to stay in a radius (of our existing offices) that will not be disruptive to our employees." Panera employs 300 at its two corporate offices and will keep its staff level between 300 and 350 employees for the next 12 to 18 months, Kip said.
CresaPartners Principal Steve Schmid and Vice President Doug Bock are handling Panera's search. "The goal is to get everyone in one environment to address operational issues and to accommodate expected growth," Schmid said.
Panera is looking ahead so its back-office services can keep up with its new bakery-café rollouts across North America. Panera's revenue has grown from $151.4 million in 2000 to nearly $829 million in 2006. During the same period, its stores grew from 262 to 1,037.
Panera is the 28th-largest St. Louis-based public company, based on revenue. The company currently has more than 1,100 franchise and company-owned locations, under the names Panera Bread and St. Louis Bread Co. Panera added 155 stores in 2006 and will add 160 to 175 stores in 2007 -- an even split between company-owned stores and franchise locations.
Recent new-store growth has centered on the West Coast, particularly Southern California. Kip said Panera plans to expand into Canada for the first time and open a restaurant in Toronto in 2008. The company also plans to enter the Memphis market in 2008 or 2009, he said. "We've been growing really fast," Kip said. "We're looking at office space that has opportunities for us to grow."
Panera has been in discussions with state and local government officials about incentives to attract a new headquarters, according to Kip. "We've definitely inquired about both state and local programs that provide incentives to locate in a certain municipality or county," he said.
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. Especially if they are focusing on the East Coast & West Coast, why not stay in the middle. Also, the American Dream is more easily within reach to employees in St. Louis than in pricey Boston. Just my two cents.
