Panera Bread's Original Name Was Way Less Memorable

Chain restaurants often go through name changes as their brand expands and shifts focus. For instance, after almost 70 years of business, Dunkin' Donuts changed its name to simply Dunkin' to reflect its growing focus on coffee and foods other than donuts, and Sonic was originally called Top Hat. Another brand that used to go by a different name is Panera Bread, which debuted in 1987 under the name St. Louis Bread Company.

The original name reflected where the first Panera Bread opened: St. Louis, Missouri. All locations were called this until 1993, when Au Bon Pain bought the company and rebranded it to Panera Bread. Company founder Ron Shaich felt that St. Louis Bread Company wouldn't appeal to customers outside of Missouri. The rebrand seems to have been successful, as Panera Bread can now be found in every U.S. state except for two. While its offerings, including its sandwiches, have expanded significantly, "the craft of baking bread fresh each day remains at the heart of Panera Bread," as the company states on its website.

Panera Bread is unique in that some of its locations still bear the name St. Louis Bread Company: specifically, the ones in and around the St. Louis area because many locals are proud of Panera Bread's roots. This writer personally grew up near the St. Louis area, and I remember visiting St. Louis Bread Company locations as a child. While I grew up far enough outside of the city to also know it as Panera Bread, I had some friends who didn't even realize the chain had another name until they grew quite a bit older.

The pride and familiarity that many locals have for the name St. Louis Bread Company meant that when locations in St. Charles and other areas outside of St. Louis proper started popping up under the name Panera Bread, there was an outcry in the community. A Panera Bread spokesperson responded to this controversy by telling Spectrum News that all stores in St. Louis city and county "are proudly remaining St. Louis Bread Co. locations," but other Missouri stores will get a rebrand. As a former Missouri local, I can say with certainty that while Panera Bread is a catchier name in other parts of the U.S., many Missourians will continue to call it St. Louis Bread Company no matter how much signage is changed.