Warren Franchisee Buys Local Paneras

Columbus Dispatch:

Central Ohio’s Panera stores are changing ownership in a move that also could add as many as 30 restaurants to the region.

Columbus-based Breads of the World, which owns 19 Panera bakery-cafes and has one in the works, is selling the units to Covelli Enterprises, based in Warren, Ohio.

Financial terms were not disclosed. The sale is expected to close by Dec. 21, Covelli spokeswoman Ashlee Mauti said.

Covelli, which is the eighth-largest franchisee of restaurants in the country, with gross sales of $350 million, also owns Panera stores in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida.

It plans to expand the Panera franchise in Columbus, Mauti said.

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