Proposed Tinley Park Panera Would Offer Drive-thru

A Panera Bread representative made the company's first pitch to plan commissioners last week—the first in a series of steps for the national franchise to open in Brookside Marketplace.

Construction director Jason Berg told the commission he hopes to start construction on the  4,000-square-foot building this summer, and predicted as soon as it's built, the people will come. And this location would offer one big perk: a drive-thru window.  

"Once we open, all of the parking will be full all of the time," Berg alluded to commissioners. 

Panera Bread would fill the last open storefront at the 560,695-square-foot Brookside Marketplace. Several spaces remained empty in recent years, but has recently seen several new additions—including Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx.

The Tinley Park location would be the 34th Panera Bread store in Chicagoland operated by Chicago Bread LLC, a subsidiary of Springfield, Missouri-based Hamra Enterprises.

The chain has multiple hurdles left to clear before construction can begin. Next, it goes before a public hearing conducted by the plan commission, then consideration and action by the village board.

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