Panera Bread to add two dozen new sites in three states

<p>Convinced low-carb dieters still will desire bread, retail bakery and cafe Panera Bread Co. said Wednesday it has reached development deals involving more than two dozen planned eateries in three states.</p><p>Wall Street appeared to welcome the news, sending Panera's shares up $1.24, or 3.5 percent, to $37.01 in early-afternoon trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.</p><p>Panera, which owns and franchises bakery-cafes under the Saint Louis Bread Co. and Panera Bread names, said it has signed with two franchisees to develop 27 Panera bakery-cafes in Colorado, Georgia and South Carolina.</p><p>"Both groups have track records of success in our industry that will help us continue to execute our growth strategy and introduce the Panera Bread experience in new and expanded markets," Ron Shaich, Panera's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.</p><p>A message left with Panera's headquarters in the St. Louis suburb Richmond Heights was not returned.</p><p>News of the planned expansions came at a time when the nation's carb-cutting craze has squeezed Panera, known for its traditionally carb-heavy sourdough, edible soup-filled bread bowls and an array of bagels.</p><p>Last month, Panera said systemwide sales at its bakery-cafes open at least 18 months slid 0.9 percent for the four weeks ending June 12. Comparable sales at franchised locations fell 1.3 percent, while company-owned stores reported a 0.1 percent drop.</p><p>Panera in that June 24 report offered no reason for the decline, and investors that day pushed the company's stock down more than 3 percent. In the weeks that followed, shares that were $38.11 the day before that sales update steadily eroded to about $33 by mid-July.</p><p>Bidding to keep the Atkins crowd coming to its stores, Panera earlier last month announced it was adding six lower-carb bread items _ three breads, two bagels and a breadstick _ to the menu at its more than 630 bakery-cafes in about three dozen states.</p><p>Panera has not detailed sales of those new offerings.</p><p>Still, Panera's latest expansion plans reflect a company positioning well for when, and if, the low-carb craze eases _ and when carb-crunching dieters invariably sneak in a sandwich as a guilty pleasure, a St. Louis-based analyst said.</p><p>"We're a country of bread lovers," RT Jones' Juli Niemann said. "We may go through this period of low-carb, but people are going to start sneaking it back in. Even with carbs, it's about switching off. Maybe you'll do your cheating with Panera instead of a regular beer."</p><p>When it comes to dieters drawn to Panera and their "really good bread, it's like a camel whose nose is under the tent _ you move in," Niemann said.</p><p>She noted Panera has been savvy about setting up in good locations, developing "a good reputation" in their markets and penetrating new ones.</p><p>As part of its planned expansions, Panera said Southern Bread LLC got the rights to develop 12 bakery-cafes in eastern Georgia, including the Augusta and Savannah markets, as well as central and southern South Carolina, featuring Columbia, Charleston and Hilton Head. The first two will open by the end of next year.</p><p>Breads of the World will develop 15 restaurants in counties continguous to the company's present Denver market, including Boulder. That franchisee's principal, Ken Rosenthal, founded the original St. Louis Bread Co. in 1987 and sold the company to Panera in 1993. Rosenthal _ operator of 45 Panera bakery-cafes in the Denver, Columbus, Ohio, and Cincinnati markets _ said he expects to build up to 55 Paneras in Colorado.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x286569c)</p>

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