Panera Bread on BU’s Campus Shuts Down Later This Month

A Panera Bread location on Boston University’s campus will close down later this month. The 888 Commonwealth Ave. restaurant officially shutters on May 21, and the decision to close came down to finances, according to the Daily Free Press, BU’s student newspaper.

Though Panera brought in large traffic from students, the cost of rent reportedly became too much for the restaurant to remain open. Elsewhere on that stretch of Commonwealth Avenue are a handful of other dining options, including an Otto Pizza right next door to Panera, plus Chipotle, Starbucks, and Sunset Cantina.

This is not the first Panera in the region to close down recently: A location in West Roxbury and one near Faneuil Hall have both shuttered, as Universal Hub reported, and the Panera near Harvard University closed last year to make way for a new Tatte Bakery + Cafe. (In early 2016, Panera acquired a stake in Tatte that amounts to just over 50%.) Other Panera locations remain in Back Bay, Coolidge Corner, Fenway, and elsewhere in Boston and Cambridge. The Missouri-based chain has around 2,000 locations throughout the United States and Canada.

• Panera in West Campus to Close this Month [DFP]
• Boston Losing Another Panera [UH]