Panera Bread on Church St. closing, Outdoor Gear Exchange to expand

Burlington sporting goods store Outdoor Gear Exchange announced Friday morning that it is expanding into the space currently occupied by Panera Bread on Church Street. OGE already owns the building where Panera is a tenant.

Panera Bread on Church Street will be closing on Monday but the Panera Bread in South Burlington will remain open, the restaurant confirmed.

"We are grateful to the community support we've had for the more than 23 years we've been in business in Burlington," Marc Sherman, co-owner of the shop, said in a statement. "Our customers in Vermont are our family, and they've supported us for more than two decades, helping us grow from an 800-square-foot shop on Main Street, through several moves to our current Church Street location."

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Mike Donahue, co-owner of OGE, said in a statement the store will use the new space to expand its offerings for customers.

In an interview with the Burlington Free Press, Sherman said "deconstruction" of the 4,400-square-foot Panera space will begin on Jan. 29, with a "soft opening" in mid-April and a "hard opening" some time in May.

Taking over the Panera will add 20 percent more retail space to Outdoor Gear Exchange and opens up all kinds of opportunities, Sherman said.

"We've got a lot of people with a lot of good ideas in the store," he said. "We're trying to take all of those ideas into account."

Sherman noted that both the ski and snowboard and bicycle departments have expanded in recent years, and are located in the basement of the store. He said one possibility he and his partner are considering is to move those departments upstairs into the new space for better visibility and convenience.

"Our customers have to drag their skis and bikes downstairs for service," Sherman said. "Skis and bikes are the only two things customers bring in for service. Facilitating that experience is the difference between being good and great."

Outdoor Gear Exchange also recently became an official dealer for The North Face and has also been designated an Osprey pro shop. Both brands could use some extra space, Sherman said.

Panera contacted Sherman at the beginning of the year, suggesting it was considering subletting its space or finding a new tenant to take over their lease, according to Sherman.

"They asked if we would consider a buyout of the lease and we said yes," Sherman said.

Panera made an offer to Sherman and Donahue, who made a counteroffer that Panera did not accept, according to Sherman. The partners then agreed to Panera's original offer, which Sherman said is a "fraction" of what the national chain would have paid in rent over the next four years to get out of a 10-year lease.

Sherman said he could make more money on the space being vacated by Panera by leasing it to a new tenant, but that it was more important to him and Donahue to "improve the customer experience" for their store.

In other news on Church Street, Free People, a Pennsylvania-based women's clothing store, plans to open this month in the space formerly occupied by The North Face, according to Becky Cassidy of Church Street Marketplace.

Cassidy said FatFace, a lifestyle clothing and accessories retailer based in the United Kingdom, plans to open in the space formerly occupied by Spellbound in February. She said another new home accessory and furniture store, Slate, opened at Christmas.

The Bruegger’s Bagels shop at 93 Church St. closed last month.