Panera invites customers to sit a while

Marisa O’Neil

Over the past month, Panera Bread in Newport Beach has been quietly

raking in the dough.

The new bread bakery and cafe, at 1348 Bison Ave. in the Bluffs

shopping center, represents the chain’s first foray into Orange

County with its menu of soups, sandwiches, pastries and 17 kinds of

bread. Panera’s popularity in other parts of the country -- it has

500 shops east of the Mississippi River -- has helped keep the new

location busy, even without a major advertising campaign.

“Right after the sign went up, people would stop their cars and

tell us that they’d been at the one in Kettering or Boston or

Chicago,” owner and President Sheri Hoover said. “Or that their

mother back East loves it.”

Newport Beach resident Hoover first stumbled on Panera while

visiting a relative in Kettering, Ohio. A short time later, her

husband, Ted, was looking for an investment opportunity after

retiring from a career in real estate.

They first considered buying stock in the company, but instead

decided to start a franchise. The couple are planning to open

locations in Irvine and Orange next year and hope to open 15 in south

Orange over the next five years.

The chain falls into the “fast casual” market, where a customer

orders food from the counter and then a server brings it out to the

table. Ted Hoover said that they do a brisk lunch business during the

week with the nearby Irvine office parks.

The Hoovers said they encourage people to relax with a book or

newspaper during “chill-out time,” between the breakfast and lunch

rushes. The shop also has a wireless internet connection for

customers’ laptop computers.

On the weekends, families stop in for lunch or breakfast on their

way home from soccer games and church.

“We sell more bagels than the bagel shops,” Sheri Hoover said.

“It’s more inviting here. Plus, we have all the latte drinks.”

Sheri Hoover said that their two signature bagels -- cinnamon

crunch and asiago cheese -- are two of their biggest sellers. The

chain features 10 bagel varieties in addition to its Artisan breads.

The “You Pick Two” combination for $6.95 is also popular, she

said. Customers can pick any two options from a list of soups, salads

and sandwiches, such as the turkey artichoke or Portobello and

mozzarella panini.

Sheri Hoover said that bakers come in at about 10 p.m. and bake their products all night long on rotating racks inside two

refrigerator-sized ovens. They donate any bread left over at the end

of the day to Costa Mesa’s Share Our Selves, which offers emergency

services to those in need.

Panera Bread started in 1998, after the Boston-based Au Bon Pain

bought the St. Louis Bread Company and changed its name. Ted Hoover

said that the company plans to expand into the California market with

100 new stores in Southern California over the next five years.