Chamber President: A Panera Would Make Sense in Merrick

In a recent interview with Patch, Merrick Chamber of Commerce president Randy Shotland spoke about the state of the Merrick business scene and what he perceives to be its more glaring holes, as far as the wants and needs of Merokeans are concerned.

One of the holes that need plugging, in Shotland’s opinion, is vaguely Panera Bread-shaped.

A nationwide bakery/cafe/casual restaurant chain, Panera Bread offers walk-up service with a wide variety of meal types catering to a variety of tastes and price ranges, something that Shotland feels would be a better fit for Merrick than, say, yet another fast food establishment.

“A Panera Bread would make sense,” he said. “First of all, it has a bakery and we don’t really have any bakeries. It also a more eclectic type of food – again, nothing like it in the area. There’s one on East Meadow on Hempstead Turnpike, and you can go in, get in line, go up to the counter, and there’s a million different types of meals. You can get a reasonable meal for a family and sit down.”

In addition to its restaurant services, Panera Bread also serves as an Internet café of sorts, offering tables and chairs for computers and free wireless Internet for customers to connect to during their stay.

As far as locations for a Panera Bread, in Merrick, Shotland easily thought of one right off of the top of his head.

“I think the location where The Treehouse used to be would be perfect,” he said, referring to the former bar and restaurant at 1833 Sunrise Highway that closed down last year. “It’s a nice piece of property. You could do a lot of things in there. Of course, it would have to be gutted and reconstructed, but it could definitely fit the scenario.”

Another area Shotland suggested is the former Blockbuster Video located at 1756 Merrick Avenue, a spot which he had also recently recommended as a good location for a possible fresh fish market.

As far as legal aspects go, a Panera Bread chain opening in Merrick would have the same hurdles to clear as any food establishment seeking to do business in the area would.

“They’d just have to deal with the Town of Hempstead and get food permits, just like any other restaurant,” Shotland said. “Nothing unusual and nothing that anyone involved with opening it probably hasn’t already dealt with before.”

While there are no known plans to open one in the area presently, the main draw of Panera Bread to Shotland is that it would fill one of the missing pieces of the Merrick consumer puzzle.

“Truthfully, that’s one of the things we lack,” he said. “We don’t have any place where I can take my two kids to eat and not spend a fortune, other than a fast food joint or maybe a Chinese place. We have lots of bagel places and pizzerias, but we don’t have anything that offers anything and everything, from breakfast to lunch to dinner. There’s really nothing like it in the Merrick area.”