Panera Bread coming to Englewood

Panera Bread has submitted plans to build a new restaurant-bakery in front of the Meijer store at Ohio 48 and I-70, and more locations are on the way throughout the region.

This is the second new Panera to be announced for northern Montgomery County this year. Panera also is building a 4,659-square-foot restaurant at 8104 Old Troy Pike (Ohio 202) in Huber Heights that is scheduled to open late this fall, according to Jessica Cavaliere, spokeswoman for Dayton-area Panera Bread stores’ franchise owner.

The new Englewood restaurant is projected to be 4,245 square feet and is scheduled to open this winter, Cavaliere said. It will share a new building with another new retail shop, a 2,000-square-foot AT&T store, according to William Singer Jr., Englewood’s community and economic development director. In addition, a free-standing, 2,104-square-foot Starbucks is in the works next door to the proposed Panera-AT&T building.

The two proposed out-lot developments, along with upgrades planned for the adjacent Meijer store, will enhance Englewood’s Ohio 48 corridor, will create jobs, and will provide new dining options for residents, Singer said.

The projects have been approved by Englewood’s City Council and detailed plans for the Panera building are under review by city staff members, Singer said.

Warren, Ohio-based Covelli Enterprises, the largest franchisee of Panera Bread restaurants with locations in five states and Canada, announced last fall that it has purchased 11 Dayton- and Springfield-area Panera locations, and said it had aggressive growth plans for the Dayton market.

Covelli plans to continue the expansion in the Dayton and Springfield markets in 2016, but has not selected sites for new locations yet, Cavaliere said.

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