Panera Bread plans to add second location in Columbus

Panera Bread, known for its sandwiches, soups, salads, pastry desserts and baked breads, is planning a second location in the Columbus market, it appears.

The St. Louis-based company already has an eatery at 6301 Whitesville Road, in the Bradley Park area on the city’s north side. The new one would be in Midtown Shopping Center on Macon Road, fronting a former Kmart property that is in the process of being redeveloped. The center is across from Cross Country Plaza.

More: New retailers headed for Midtown Shopping Center on Macon Road

MidTown Business Association Coordinator Bitsy Dedwylder said Wednesday she has spoken with the shopping center’s owner, Richard Waddell, who projected that construction likely will begin soon on the new Panera Bread. It would be across from the McDonald’s outlet on Macon Road.

“MidTown is really excited about having another restaurant and we’re so happy that Richard Waddell was able to negotiate a deal with Panera to get them in Midtown. I’m sure it’s going to be a tremendous success and, hopefully, other restaurants will follow,” she said.

Panera touts the fact that its menu carries poultry and pork items without antibiotics, while it also avoids artificial additives to include flavorings, sweeteners, preservatives and colorings.

The company has nearly 2,100 bakery-cafes in the U.S. and Canada under the names Panera, Saint Louis Bread Co. and Paradise Bakery & Cafe. Panera was acquired last year by Luxembourg-based JAB Holdings, which owns Caribou Coffee and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

Atlanta-based Retail Leasing Advisors is helping Waddell to redevelop Midtown Shopping Center. Thus far, the western portion of the shopping center has added Bealls Outlet, Ross Dress for Less, Shoe Carnival and Dollar Tree.

The piece of the puzzle that remains is finding one or more new tenants for the former Kmart discount store that closed last year. It is more than 110,000 square feet of space as it stands, although a future user might want to tear down some or all of the existing structure for a custom store.

The center also is where Toys R Us was located for years before relocating to Columbus Park Crossing on the city’s north side. The one-time toy king has filed for bankruptcy and is now holding a going out of business across the U.S.

This story was originally published May 2, 2018 at 12:43 PM with the headline "Panera Bread plans to add second location in Columbus."