Panera Bread open to public

Stomach grumbling and mind drifting, food becomes all students can think of during class on long days during the semester.

Luckily for Jonesboro, Haag Brown Commercial, a commercial real estate and development company, works to put up new businesses in the Northeast Arkansas area.

Over the past year, Haag Brown is responsible for bringing Red Lobster, Longhorns, Cheddar's Café and Dairy Queen to Jonesboro. The newest edition is set to open this week, Panera Bread Company.

"I think Jonesboro is very excited for the opening of Panera Bread. One of our most frequently asked questions the past few weeks has been when the opening will be," said Joshua Brown, CCIM, co-owner and principal broker of Haag Brown."Panera is a great combination of high quality food in a laid back atmosphere and I think the residents of Jonesboro are looking forward to experiencing that."

Joshua Brown and Greg Haag formed Haag Brown Commercial Real Estate and Development in Sept. of 2010.

"It is our motive to create a commercial real estate company that is the most technologically advanced in the industry," Brown said.

"We want to grow Jonesboro's retail and restaurant community to keep tax dollars from going across the bridge to Memphis or to Little Rock. It is our goal to be a Philippians 2:4 company in which we put others interests above our own."

Ribbon cutting for Panera Bread was Wednesday, Jan. 25. Haag Brown went through a year long process by putting together a site, a developer and acquiring numbers that Panera Bread could justify with in order to open a location in Jonesboro.

"Panera does not see any competition in the local market. They are the only restaurant that will be baking bread in the store," Brown said. "If there were a competitor to come in, Panera would welcome them I assume. They prosper throughout the country."

Besides Panera Bread, the other restaurants and businesses Haag Brown has brought to Jonesboro generated positive response.

"We've had the privilege of working with some really awesome people on some really awesome restaurant projects and I think Jonesboro has loved each and every one of them," Brown said.

"You can't go out to eat around lunch-time or dinner-time at any of these new restaurants without a wait, which is a good thing. It means the people of Jonesboro are really enjoying the growth of our city."

Students on campus are also enjoying the growth first hand. Junior Radio-Television major Meredith Scott from Bryant looks forward to Panera Bread opening this week.

"Before I moved up here from Little Rock, I would eat lunch at Panera with my mom and I really missed the restaurants that Little Rock and Bryant had," Scott said. "I'm excited to have all the new restaurants that Haag Brown has built because I ate at most of them when I lived in central Arkansas so I already know my favorite dishes."

Haag Brown's motive keeps them pursuing new business for Jonesboro and Northeast Arkansas. With future plans in the works, Jonesboro can look forward to growth of the area.

"I know for certain that the future of Northeast Arkansas is very bright," Brown said.