Panera opens new headquarters in Sunset Hills
St. Louis Business Journal
November 19, 2010
By Kelsey Volkmann
Panera Bread Co. plans to celebrate the opening of its new headquarters Friday in Sunset Hills and the relocation of 365 corporate employees there.
Panera, which operates locally as Saint Louis Bread Co., leased 90,000 square feet of office space formerly occupied by Anheuser-Busch at 3630 S. Geyer Road. Panera is vacating 33,000 square feet of space at 6710 Clayton Road in Richmond Heights and 16,000 square feet of space at 1600 S. Brentwood in Brentwood.
The bakery-cafe chain, led by CEO Bill Moreton and Chairman Ron Shaich, has said the extra space will allow the company to grow and add at least 100 more employees over the next couple years.
Panera (NASDAQ: PNRA) is spending $1.8 million on tenant improvements. Earlier this year, St. Louis County officials approved a 50 percent tax abatement for Panera that will total about $130,000 over 10 years. The building is owned by Duke Realty Corp.
For the full year 2009, the company reported a profit of $86 million on revenue of $1.4 billion, up from a profit of $67 million on revenue of $1.3 billion in 2008. As of Sept. 28, Panera has 1,421 bakery-cafes in 40 states and Canada under the names Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co. and Paradise Bakery & Café.
