Oct 20 2008
Panera Bread Opens Store in Brewers Hill
Panera Bread opened their newest Baltimore City Location recently in the Brewers Hill neighborhood. The new store is located in the shopping center at the corner of Boston and Conkling Streets next to the Five Guys, Dogma, and the new Pasta Mista.
With the opening of this Panera, I began to think to myself whether or not this is a good thing for Baltimore or not. Don’t get me wrong, I think Panera is delicious. But one of Baltimore’s charms of course are the independent coffee shops, the small bookstores, cozy restaurants, dirty corner bars, etc. Panera is shiny, clean, and…well…suburban.
On the other hand Panera’s expansion into Baltimore City shows a significant investment of money and faith in the general retail strength of the area. Remember when O’Malley was at the retail convention in Vegas and everyone kept asking him how many Starbucks we had (I think we only had like 2 at the time…now we have about a dozen). Panera will likely be followed by other chains, then fancier chains, then maybe we’ll get one of those department stores that many have been coveting. People will follow too…maybe more suburbanites will consider moving to the city…comforted by the fact that familiar places are nearby.
Ultimately the expansions of chains in the city is an inevitable effect of its growth at the expense of independent stores. Unfortunately in today’s world growth has been synonymous with big business. Perhaps with the recent economic collapse that will change…but I won’t hold my breath.
What I will say is that some mornings I’ll probably be down at Panera…in line for one of those Cinnamon Crunch Bagels with Hazelnut cream cheese…They’re incredible.
9 Comments to “Panera Bread Opens Store in Brewers Hill”
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I’m really glad to have it. There aren’t many places that offer healthy meals (like salads) as a carry out. While I prefer local places, there aren’t many soup/salad carry out lunch options in the area.
I’m looking forward to some larger chain stores in the area. I don’t like to see chains in Fells Point, but there is plenty of land area by Merritt Athletic Club for the larger stores. I think areas like Harbor East could use some boutique shops and higher end furniture stores, and the area by Merritt could benefit from the proposed Harris Teeter and Target type stores.
Now we just need one on the Fed Hill, Locust Point side of town. Please!
Next up is the Broom Factory (retail on Boston St) and the Gunther Brewery (hotel & apartments). Also Bayview might get a Wal Mart on Eastern Ave & Bayview Blvd – former site of Pemco Chemical. Also a Target at Canton Crossing is in the works, but that entire development has been moving slow.
Only time will tell to see what actually gets built in this economy, but it is exciting to see new retail in eastern Canton.
Panera Bread’s healthy reputation is largely based on advertising. They’ve successfully conned yuppies into thinking their form of fast food is actually better than McDonald’s. Given the dubious of the belief (http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/Restaurant-Report-Card/B_Restaurants.php) it’s asmusing to see how many yuppies have swallowed it hook, line, and stinker.
“The independent coffee shops, the small bookstores, cozy restaurants, dirty corner bars” will survive if they are good as everyone claims they are. If not, good riddance to bad rubbish. Geez, nobody eats bad food because of advertising and Panera Bread’s success is due to in part providing quality food at the price they charge. It is also in part due to their realization that they couldn’t compete with McDonald’s in terms of quality or price so they marketed to yuppies.
you sound like an idiot!!
Would anyone know what this building next to Panera Bread is? I am not sure if it is part of the National Brewery or the Horseradish Factory.
Link to photos:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/2990628347_fc27a7f50f_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2985227730_8a0473f2d8_o.jpg
Thanks,
Alex
alex…here is your answer…
sorry. photo doesnt show on here…its the old gunther/hamms brewery
Thank you for your help!
Alex