Au Bon Pain is closing its doors for good on the ground floor of Piedmont Hospital on August 25, according to a recording of an announcement from the company obtained Wednesday by What Now Atlanta (WNA). Staff for the quick-service restaurant were laid off en masse over the teleconference. The recording was provided by one of Au Bon Pain’s employees who asked to remain anonymous. Their employment with the restaurant was independently verified by WNA.
“Unfortunately, this morning, you know I have some news to share with the team,” upper management for the location said in the call. “Unfortunately, due to the crisis, and you know, the state of, you know, the world right now and everything going with, you know, everything in our industry, uh, Panera has decided, um, to cease all capital expenditures for the remainder of the year, and unfortunately that means that we will no longer be converting our location into a Panera Bread, and, um, with that, the hospital, we have decided, to uh, end our lease between Au Bon Pain and the Piedmont Hospital location, and our last day of operation will be August 25 of this year.”
As first reported by WNA at the end of 2019, Au Bon Pain was to be converted into a Panera Bread under the same ownership. Those plans have since been scrapped. It was supposed to open as part of Piedmont’s new campus.
Jawad Ettayebi, the location’s general manager, confirmed the news in a call with WNA Thursday and then hung up the phone when asked about yesterday’s conference call. The location is owned by Florida-based Bread Partner Holdings.
Several Piedmont Hospital spokespeople did not respond to WNA’s request for comment.
