NEWPORT – Customers who used to frequent the Panera Bread in Newport will have to look elsewhere for their coffees, Wi-Fi and bagels after the popular location, which opened in the Long Wharf Mall in 2002, closed its doors on Sept. 28 following the expiration of its building lease.
While rumors of the closure swirled on social media after customers arrived to find the doors locked and the building empty, Tom Howley, vice president of the Howley Bread Group, which owned the shuttered Newport site and operates 27 other Panera Bread locations in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts, confirmed to Providence Business News on Friday that the store is no more.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
“This is a bittersweet kind of event,” he said. “We are very grateful for our time there. But with the expiration of the lease, it made sense for us.”
Howley Bread Group owns all seven remaining Panera locations in Rhode Island, in addition to four in Massachusetts and 16 in Connecticut. Howley said the company has no plans to close any additional Rhode Island stores.
The onset of the mass adoption of digital ordering services and orders placed predominantly for take-out has shifted the consumer culture, said Howley, who estimates about 60% of patrons now choose not to eat inside his establishments, which has led the franchise to refocus efforts on leaner and faster operations.
“There are many things that have remained consistent. But when we opened [in Newport], it was quite a different time than where we are today,” he said.
Howley added this change in customer habits made a drive-thru option a requirement to remain competitive. Building one at the Newport location was a “far out dream,” he said. The building is situated between a Newport Fire Department station and a busy thoroughfare, not to mention the commercial complex that is often filled with pedestrians during summer and winter shopping seasons.
“It gets complicated to retrofit [brick-and-mortar stores],” Howley said. “For many of our cafes, it doesn’t work. [Take-out and drive-thru] has become a really important part of our business.”
“When we started this business in 1999, our idea was to be in it for the long haul,” he continued. “This is kind of what this [move] represents. We want to be able to meet our customers where they are and to [adapt] and be able to provide food through all of these different channels.”
Howley said “nearly all” of the staff at the Newport location will have the opportunity to relocate to another Panera Bread, while those who choose not to remain with the company will be afforded severance pay.
But Howley did not rule out the possibility of opening another location on Aquidneck Island in the future.
“Maybe someday we can find a spot in Middletown that can work,” he said.
The soon-to-be-vacant building is controlled by Boston Celtics co-owner Steven Lewinstein, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Kirby Properties principal broker and co-founder Steve Kirby, who has been involved in most of the leases in the Long Wharf shopping mall, said the city has no vacant commercial properties zoned for restaurants. And given the building’s desirable location, he predicted the building will not be vacant for long.
“I’m sure [Steven Lewinstein] has an idea lined up already,” he said.
The popular shopping plaza is managed by Middletown-based Coastal Property Management. A representative at the company said the company was aware of the Panera Bread closure but did not provide further details, forwarding all inquiries to the property owner.
Panera Bread is a private company controlled by German conglomerate JAB Holding Co. JAB now has more than 2,000 Panera Bread locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
(ADDS 4TH paragraph with detail, status of other Howley stores in the region; clarifies number of remaining Howley group stores in the region.)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
