Provence Breads & Cafe plans a batch of sites

Provence Breads & Cafe has about a dozen stores in the oven for the Nashville area as it turns up the heat on local rival Bread & Co. and national fast-casual power Panera Bread. After building his brand downtown and in West End president and major shareholder Terry Carr-Hall wants to take his company further afield. Carr-Hall's plans reflect a national optimism among his peers. According to the National Restaurant Association's "Expectation Index," 58 percent of restaurant operators expect to invest in equipment, expansion or remodeling by the spring. Nor is Carr-Hall alone in planning local growth. Bread & Co., which has stores in the area also is going through a growth phase. It expects to open a downtown store in 2007 and a Hendersonville store either that year or in 2008. Beyond those, the company will launch three to five more stores in the next four to five years. Bread & Co. officials also are preparing to build a commissary. John Clay, one of the owners of Bread & Co., says there is room in Nashville for all the competitors.