Pret a Manger leaves Southern California after promising 40 stores just one remains open

Grab-and-gone.Iconic UK-eatery Pret a Manger, often referred to as Pret, found great success in Britain and New York City with its affordable grab-and-go baked goods, salads and soups. Back in 2022, the sandwich-and-coffee chain announced a major expansion, revealing it planned to dominate Southern California with 40 new stores.But four years later, the only spot left open in Southern California is inside LAX at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.In fact, the London-born brand has gone so far as to close three locations across the city.The first of the four spots to open was in 2024 and was posted up in the Westwood neighborhood near UCLA.The second was in the Westfield Century City mall, which is also home to soup dumpling titan Din Tai Fung and Javier’s — a fine dining Mexican restaurant.

The last to open were in Studio City and inside LAX.With the help of Dallas Holdings — its partner and massive UK-based investment firm — the chain had planned to lean into franchise partnerships and “double the size” of the business within five years.“We are extremely excited about bringing the Pret brand to the Southern California market, whilst also adding to Pret’s own strong New York network,” Shane Thakrar, president and CEO of Dallas Holdings said in a press release.“We feel California is a great new market for Pret, with many strong initial locations across Los Angeles and Orange County planned for our launch,” Thakrar added.But the last remaining airport spot isn’t not managed by Dallas Holdings —instead it’s run by concessions operator ASUR Airports. A local restaurant news site, Toddrickallen, revealed that the Westwood and Westfield Century City spots closed in early April, while the Studio City restaurant shut down its Yelp page, where it axed the reviews feature over a year ago.The sandwich giant has 400 locations around the world and has garnered big sales in The Big Apple, where over 40 restaurants continue to serve up its popu...