Panera Bread now has 10 fewer locations across Houston after EYM Cafe, a franchisee, filed for bankruptcy last week. EYM Cafe was founded in 2019. EYM started with 18 locations across Houston, Lubbock, and Midland, expanding to Abilene and Amarillo before collapsing. The drama began in February when EYM started falling behind on payments to Panera and suppliers. This prompted intervention by Panera, which concluded the stores were not being run to its standards, and tried to facilitate a transfer of ownership. EYM did not go along with Panera’s plan, and Panera revoked EYM’s franchise rights. In May, Panera filed a lawsuit against EYM, alleging continued use of Panera’s name, logo, and other trademarks. A judge subsequently issued an injunction, mandating that EYM cease using the Panera name by August 1st. The rogue restaurants were delisted from Panera’s website, and only made it six days before failing to open yesterday. This closure is a similar fate to other EYM ventures, specifically their Pizza Hut and KFC operations, which also fell apart. EYM is also a major Denny’s franchisee in the DFW area. Although they have recently closed some stores, the condition of their Denny’s operations remains unclear.
