By Staff

When Kenyon students first heard that Chipotle would arrive in Mount Vernon, the campus reached a state of near euphoria. Students may now have similar cause for excitement ﾗ a Panera Bread is slated to open in Mount Vernon in mid-2014.

The Panera will be located on Coshocton Avenue, near Walmart. After choosing a location, Panera representatives worked with Mount Vernon engineers to ensure that the building will be up to the city’s building codes.

To Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis, these are all positive signs that Panera will open its doors, though he shied away from concretely confirming its arrival. At issue is that once Mount Vernon officials notify a restaurant like Panera that their building plans have been approved, they have no control over whether or not Panera actually decides to come.

Recently, Frisch’s Big Boy made plans to come to Mount Vernon. They issued a press release and chose a location, but then didn’t follow through. Mavis thinks this new restaurant will prove more promising. “Panera has worked more quickly [than Frisch’s Big Boy],” he said. “We do believe that we are going to have a Panera Bread establishment here on Coshocton Avenue.”

Students are already exhilarated about the possibility of Panera. “Oh, I’m so excited,” Megan Morris ’16 said. “We have another option besides Chipotle.”

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