Fast-casual baked goods restaurant Panera Bread recently announced that it will close its dough-making facility in Chandler, Arizona, this summer, which will also mean laying off all 64 employees. 

ABC 15 Arizona reported that the company informed the state's Department of Economic Security and the Chandler City Council on June 12 that it would permanently cease operations at its facility on August 15. 

Panera senior vice president and CPO Kathy-Jo Payette said in a letter to state and city officials that it would terminate 16 employees three days before, on August 12, before laying off the remaining 48 by the end of operations. 

Last month, VCPost reported that Panera pulled out its charged lemonade after customers sued them for the deaths of some who consumed the product due to its alleged caffeine content. 

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Panera's Future Plans

The St. Louis Business Journal reported that none of the employees were unionized, but Payette stressed that Panera would offer its affected employees a severance package and outplacement services. 

The company would also offer some of its employees the opportunity to apply for other market jobs and hold a job fair at the facility before it closes. 

Nation's Restaurant News added that Panera was in the middle of a brand transformation with its menu, which already offered nine new items and was reimagining current recipes and portion sizes. 

Panera was publicly traded until Luxembourg-based JAB Holding acquired it for $7.5 billion in 2017. 

However, Panera Brands announced last year that it was planning to re-offer its shares in the public market, with the company filing confidential paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) in December. 

The IPO could likely happen sometime this year. 

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