Panera Bread Readies 'Next-Generation' Drive-Thru In Monroe

MONROE, CT — Construction is nearly complete on a new bakery that will be only the second of its kind in the U.S.

The Panera bakery, café and restaurant getting set to open at 205 Monroe Turnpike in Monroe at the end of the summer will incorporate next-generation designs and technology debuted in Missouri last November.

A big part of the touted upgrades is theater. Panera is moving the ovens to be in full view of the guests, so they can "fully immerse themselves in the experience" of baking.

Revised branding is also a big deal in the modernized cafés. The new "Mother Bread" logo is a nod to Panera Bread's more than 30-year-old sourdough starter from which all of its sourdough bread is still made today, according to a corporate news release.

The popular fast casual eatery chain worked with retail reinvention genie ChangeUp on the new designs. The firm also handled the brand do-overs for Baskin-Robbins, Stop & Shop, Mazda and Corona beer.

More impactful will be the location's two drive-thru lanes. Panera is leaning in hard on drive thru's and pick-up service powered by its mobile app. One of the lanes will be exclusively devoted to the bakery's signature "Rapid Pick-Up" service.

Joining the app will be a suite of new interactive gizmos, including contactless dine-in and delivery, updated ordering kiosks, automatic loyalty identification, and a fully digitized menu both in-café and in drive-thru. Once they make their order, Panera customers will be notified via mobile notifications when their food is ready, minimizing interaction with cashiers, kiosks, paper receipts or pagers.

Those Panera customers who could still use some help navigating in the non-virtual world will also be in luck. The bakery is promising "clear and concise wayfinding" on the exterior of the café to assist guests along their route after entering the front door.

"Every step of the guest journey was scrutinized to find ways to make it more intuitive and convenient, and the result represents the very best of our design and development teams that we are proud to open today," according to Rob Sopkin, Panera's chief development officer.