Business & Tech
Panera Bread Coming to Edmonds
National chain bakery and cafe store will open later this year at site of exisiting Barlee's Restaurant, which will be torn down. The new restaurant will be hiring as many as 45 employees.
An expansion by a national chain of bakery-style restaurants will bring several new locations to Washington this year, including one in Edmonds.
Panera Bread, a bakery and café, is planning a store at 7929 244th St. SW (Lake Ballinger Way), which is now the site of Barlee’s Restaurant.
A conditional-use permit application and a building permit application have been submitted to the city of Edmonds, said Gina Coccia, associate planner for the city’s Development Services Department. The plan calls for the demolition of Barlee’s and construction of a new restaurant with more than 100 seats, including 39 designated for outdoor dining.
The new location, at the confluence of state Route 104 and 244th Street Southwest, is on the southernmost tip of Edmonds and Snohomish County. Panera Bread will become the first national, non-fast-food restaurant in the city since the closure of Denny’s, which was just west of the future site and is now occupied by . Downtown Edmonds does not have any national chain restaurants.
Panera Bread, founded in St. Louis 30 years ago, has almost 1,400 restaurants in 40 states. There are 20 in Washington, including one at Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood. New restaurants are also planned this year in Bothell, Bellevue and Seattle’s Capitol Hill. A store in Woodinville is scheduled to open at the end of May, and Panera’s latest store opened last week in Renton.
At Panera’s website, the Edmonds store is listed as a new location and is taking applications for management, bakers, caterers and hourly shifts. Jayson Levich, a joint venture partner with Panera in charge of hiring and training in Washington, says the Edmonds location will have about 45 employees.
“We love Edmonds,” said Levich. “We think it’s a fantastic customer base for Panera and what we have to offer.”
A typical Panera bakery and café, open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., features a combination of booth and tables, free Wi-Fi access, a community table and a fireplace. It serves a selection of hot and cold sandwiches, soufflés, bagels, soups, paninis and salads. Panera’s signature hot entrees are steak chili with cornbread, and macaroni and cheese with white cheddar cheese sauce over shell pasta.
Beverages include a full line of coffee drinks using beans from Costa Rica. “We’re really proud of it,” said Levich, “and feel it compares favorably to other major coffee companies.”
Panera also offers an artisan and specialty bread baked that morning. Varieties include stone-milled rye, three seed, focaccia, whole grain, sourdough, cinnamon raisin, tomato basil and honey wheat, among others.
Panera also caters for groups of five or more.