, the 24-year-old Nashville bakery and cafe, has been purchased by the company behind
First Watch, a breakfast-lunch-and-brunch restaurant based in Florida that has two Nashville-area locations (Brentwood and Cool Springs).
First Watch Restaurants Inc. announced the deal in a release today, saying it "has acquired Nashville-based Bread & Company including the two restaurants currently operating in Green Hills and West End, all recipes, marks and intellectual property." It did not disclose the terms of the deal.
Bread & Company's store at 2525 West End "continues to operate as usual," First Watch says.
The longtime Bread & Company location at 6051 Highway 100 in Belle Meade shuttered earlier this year, and the Green Hills store is currently closed, but is scheduled to reopen pending several months of renovation.
According to First Watch, the Green Hills cafe shut down on Nov. 26 "to allow developer Brookside Properties to commence with an extensive renovation of the building that is expected to be completed by mid- to late 2015."
The release added: "As part of the new long-term lease entered into by First Watch for the space, it will re-open as Bread & Company upon completion of the renovation," the release says.
In other words, First Watch plans to operate both the West End and Green Hills locations as Bread & Company, not a renamed concept.
Bread & Company was a groundbreaking business in Nashville when the Clay family launched it in the early '90s, a fact that First Watch acknowledged in the release:
Bread & Company was founded in 1992 by Anne Clay as Nashville’s first artisan bakery serving only breads, rolls, pastries and coffee in a space with just 15 seats. In 1995, Clay’s son John III joined the company and helped evolve the brand to include salads, soups and sandwiches on the menu. Bread & Company built a loyal following and became well-known for its award-winning baked goods, Signature Fruit Tea, Tomato Basil Soup, Strawberry Fields Salad and its Iroquois Chicken Salad sandwich which was voted “Best Sandwich” by Nashville Lifestyles Magazine. "Bread & Company built a loyal following in Middle Tennessee over many years and John and his family did a great job growing the brand and concept,” said Ken Pendery, President and CEO of First Watch. “When John decided that it was time for the next adventure in his life, we began discussing how First Watch might be in a position to provide an ideal transition as part of our successful expansion in Nashville. Combining the strengths of both brands means an incredibly differentiated offering for fans of both concepts.”
The release also quoted John Clay III, longtime head of the company his mother Anne Clay started:
“For more than 20 years, Bread & Company has been serving our friends and neighbors in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. We are proud of the brand and the concept we have developed and greatly appreciate our loyal customers,” said John Clay III. “We are pleased and happy to be passing the torch to a dynamic company like First Watch. I am confident that they will do a great job preserving all that is unique and special about Bread & Company and they are well-equipped to evolve the concept into something I always believed it would be.”
First Watch, based in Bradenton, Fla., is a daytime-only restaurant concept with more than 120 restaurants in 17 states.
