Panera moving headquarters from St. Louis to CEO's home state

Panera Bread is moving its headquarters out of the St. Louis region, ending nearly four decades of the company being based in the area where it was founded — and relocating it to the metro area where CEO Paul Carbone has spent most of his life and career.

Carbone told employees in a memo reviewed by KMOX and dated Monday that the company will open a new headquarters in Weston, Massachusetts, in July 2027. Many people working at the headquarters in Fenton, as well as remote positions, will have to get a moving truck or find new work. "We will maintain a St. Louis support center; however, we will soon relocate many St. Louis Support Center and remote team roles to the new headquarters in Weston," Carbone wrote. The company did not say how many jobs would move or how many would remain here.

Carbone framed the move as necessary for collaboration and faster decision-making. The CEO is a Boston-area native with degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He built his career in New England as the longtime CFO of three Massachusetts companies: Dunkin' Brands, SharkNinja, and Talbots. He was also CFO for Texas-based Yeti Coolers.

Since joining Panera in 2023, he has worked not from St. Louis County but from the company's existing support center in Newton, Massachusetts. When he was initially named CFO, Panera announced he would be based out of Newton. Weston, the site of the new headquarters, is roughly ten minutes away from there.

The pattern is familiar: headquarters can appear to migrate to wherever the chief executive lives. When Charter Communications announced last decade it would move its home office from Town & Country to Stamford, Connecticut, the Stamford Advocate noted that new CEO Tom Rutledge had long made his home just down the road in New Canaan, Connecticut. Charter now does business as Spectrum. Conversely, retail marketing firm Advantage Solutions moved its headquarters from California to Clayton after former Anheuser-Busch and Schnucks President Dave Peacock became its CEO. In none of these moves did the company publicly cite an executive's personal preference.

Panera is also moving to a new business climate. Missouri today taxes corporate income at a flat 4%, one of the lowest rates in the country, while Massachusetts charges 8%. The gap carries to individuals: Missouri’s top income tax rate is 4.7%, compared with a 5% flat rate in Massachusetts that rises to 9% on earnings above roughly $1 million. Beyond taxes, the Boston area is a considerably more expensive place to operate, with higher real estate and labor costs than the St. Louis region. Neither the company nor Massachusetts has announced any financial incentives.

KMOX News has reached out to Greater St. Louis Inc., the business chamber organization, as well as the office of St. Louis County Executive Sam Page for reaction to the headquarters departure. We were told GSL managing partner Ron Kitchens was traveling overseas and unable to immediately comment. We're awaiting a response from Page, who was absent from Tuesday's County Council meeting.

Panera was founded as the Saint Louis Bread Company in 1987, when Ken Rosenthal opened the first bakery-cafe in Kirkwood after learning to make sourdough in San Francisco. Au Bon Pain purchased the chain in 1993. The combined company would eventually reside in Sunset Hills and be renamed Panera, though many of its City and County locations still operate under the Saint Louis Bread Co. name. Questions include whether that banner will change. It is now privately owned by Luxembourg fund JAB Holdings.

The headquarters shift is part of Panera RISE, a transformation strategy Carbone announced in late 2025 to reverse years of flat or declining sales. Panera fell from the nation's top fast-casual brand to third place as sales dropped 5% in 2024. Carbone previously described the decline as "death by a thousand paper cuts."

The chain has already implemented controversial changes. The company closed its regional dough factories and moved to frozen, par-baked bread, ending the era of on-site overnight bakers. And beginning August 19th, the Unlimited Sip Club will no longer be unlimited, with members capped at 30 self-serve drinks per month.

Employees were asked to join a town hall to learn more about the transition.

Read the entire memo sent from Panera's CEO to corporate staff:

Date: July 27, 2026
To: All Support Center Team Members
From: Paul Carbone, CEO
Subject: Building Our Future Together - Brand Headquarters Transition

Team Panera:

The first year of our transformation strategy, Panera RISE, is focused on setting an important foundation to drive our next chapter of growth and reclaim our leadership in the fast casual industry. Much of the work we've done in the first half of the year has been enriched through performance-driven collaboration that helped execute several key initiatives.

As we move forward, it is critical that we have an environment to enable even deeper collaboration, faster decision-making and a more unified culture. That's why today I'd like to share that in July 2027, we will open a new headquarters in Weston, Massachusetts, located in the Metro Boston area. Our new workspace will allow us to fully align our teams against the strategic pillars of Panera RISE, operating as one connected team as we continue our transformation.

We will maintain a St. Louis support center; however, we will soon relocate many St. Louis Support Center and remote team roles to the new headquarters in Weston. Multiple factors were carefully considered to determine which roles would relocate, and we understand the personal and professional impact this may have.

Please join us for a town hall meeting today at 10:30 AM ET where we will discuss and share additional details, but please know that we are committed to supporting all team members throughout this process.

We understand this is a significant change, but one that is necessary to drive forward our RISE strategy that will lead us into the future. Thank you for your continued commitment, resilience and dedication to our mission and to each other.

Sincerely,
Paul