Panera Bread to open first Detroit location in GM RenCen

Panera Bread will open its first Detroit bakery-café this winter in the GM Renaissance Center.

Construction for the 70–plus–seat restaurant on Level A of the Wintergarden is expected to begin in September and wrap up in early 2016.

"We're thrilled that Panera has chosen the GM RenCen as its first Detroit location," said Claudia Killeen, GM's manager of Renaissance Center Development. The restaurant will be "a great dining destination for the thousands of people who work in and visit the GM RenCen every day," she added.

The 4,429-square-foot restaurant will have about 30 employees and feature what Panera calls its 2.0 amenities — an integrated series of technologies designed to improve service and convenience for customers.

Those include custom ordering, mobile payments, fast-lane kiosks for dine-in and to-go guests, advanced ordering and the company's Rapid Pick-Up service for to-go meals.

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Panera began as the St. Louis Bread Co. in 1993 and now has 1,901 bakery-cafes in 45 states and Ontario, Canada. Its menu focuses on breads and pastries, soups, made-to-order salads and sandwiches, and beverage choices that range from espresso drinks to smoothies.

Contact Sylvia Rector: 313-222-5026 and srector@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @SylviaRector.