New Panera Bread on South Avenue up and running

By JORDYN GRZELEWSKI

jgrzelewski@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

As Covelli Enterprises owner Sam Covelli walked through the company’s newest Panera Bread cafe at its grand opening Tuesday, the Mahoning Valley businessman stopped and chatted with customers.

Some he recognized from the early days of his Panera Bread franchise, which started 20 years ago with a location on Boardman-Poland Road.

To mark the anniversary of opening that first cafe and to thank the customers who made the operation grow to the largest Panera franchisee in the country, the company opened a new restaurant at 7121 South Ave. near the original cafe.

The cafe features an updated design that Covelli likened to a living room. Large windows provide plenty of natural light. The restaurant is larger than the other location, plus there is additional parking and a drive-thru.

The new Panera also offers kiosk ordering, rapid pick-up and delivery within an 8-mile radius.

A few hours after the new location opened, cars wrapped around the drive-thru lane and a line of customers snaked out the door. Most of the spacious dining area was filled, and some customers enjoyed their coffee and food on the cafe’s patio.

Seated at an outdoor table, Sam Covelli recalled the decision 20 years ago to open the first cafe. At that time, Covelli Enterprises, founded by Sam’s father, Albert, was getting out of the McDonald’s business. For a time, Covelli was the largest franchisee of those restaurants.

Panera Bread, then called St. Louis Bread, had gotten started not long before and had yet to become a household name.

“A lot of people thought I was crazy,” Covelli recalled. But he saw that people’s dining preferences were changing and decided to open one of the fast-casual restaurants.

The decision paid off.

“Thank goodness it was a great store from day one,” Covelli said. “People loved our food from day one.”

From there, the Covelli Panera franchise expanded its menu and locations, breaking records along the way.

Today, Covelli Enterprises owns and operates more than 300 Panera Bread locations and employes about 35,000 people. It employs about 2,000 people locally.

With his success, Sam Covelli, who grew up Warren, has never forgotten his Mahoning Valley roots. The company headquarters remain in Warren.

And it was for the Mahoning Valley that Covelli had a message Tuesday as he celebrated the new store: “Thank you to the community.”

Panera is celebrating the opening with numerous offers and giveaways. The first 500 dine-in customers after 10 a.m. Tuesday will receive a free Panera travel mug and two weeks of free refills, with any purchase.

The first 500 drive-thru customers will receive a $5 gift card for future use with the purchase of a You-Pick-Two.

The cafe also is offering 50 percent off online orders for rapid pickup or delivery using the code BOARDMANOPENING at checkout.