Hamra Enterprises opens 100th unit

Hamra Enterprises today opened its 100th unit, a Panera Bread franchise in Chicago.

The restaurant in the Tinley Park suburb marks the Springfield-based company’s 37th Panera franchise in Illinois. The Hamra family and Tinley Park Mayor Edward Zabrocki were scheduled to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning, according to a news release.

Hamra Enterprises operates:

• Wendy's of Missouri Inc., a franchisee of the fast-food chain with 35 restaurants in Missouri and Kansas;
• Boston Bread LLC, an operator of 16 Panera bakery cafes in the greater Boston area;
• Chicago Bread LLC, a Panera franchisee of 37 locations in the greater Chicago area;
• SJH Hotels LLC, which operates a Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in Lewisville, Texas; and
• Hamra Noodles, a Noodles & Co. franchisee with seven Missouri locations in St. Louis and Columbia and four New England restaurants.

Last June, Hamra Enterprises purchased the southwest Missouri franchise rights to Noodles & Co. from the Broomfield, Colo.-based pasta chain (Nasdaq: NDLS). The rights stretch along the Interstate-44 corridor from St. Louis to Springfield, as well as into the Branson and Joplin areas. At the time, a Hamra Enterprises spokesperson said the company planned to open its first southwest Missouri restaurant - likely in Springfield - in 2015. However, a location hasn’t been set.

Founded in 1975 by Sam Hamra, Hamra Enterprises employs over 3,500 in Missouri, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Texas, according to the release.