New Panera Bread location planned for southwest Las Vegas
A local franchise owner of the Panera Bread restaurant chain will open a new location in the southwestern Las Vegas valley.
The new location, near the intersection of Rainbow Boulevard and Warm Springs Road, should open around April, said Mikel Miller, operations director for the franchise company.
The new location, the eighth in the valley and first with a drive-thru for the franchise company, will have a staff of about 50 people, a mix of current employees and new hires.
The company will start taking applicants closer to spring, Miller said. He expects to open three new locations during 2017.
About half of Panera’s 2,000 cafe concepts are franchised, he said. The rest are owned by the company.
The new location will be about six miles away from the closest Panera Bread. Miller said he liked the location at 7240 S. Rainbow Blvd. for its proximity to an apartment complex and a hospital.
“The growth is headed in that direction,” he said. “Over the past two-to-three years, it seems like incoming stuff keeps shifting toward out there.”
Contact Wade Tyler Millward at 702-383-4602 or wmillward@reviewjournal.com. Follow @wademillward on Twitter.
