Downtown campus students will soon be just minutes away from a new bakery chain set to occupy space in the Arizona Center.
Corner Bakery Cafe, which has over 100 locations across the country, offers meal items for breakfast, lunch and dinner, such as oatmeal, paninis, soups and salads. The restaurant also has options for cafe beverages and sweets, including brownies, cookies and cakes.
The downtown Phoenix location of Corner Bakery Cafe does not have an exact opening date, but it should be available for business around October, according to Zach Wethington, manager of the Arrowhead location.
Timothy Bonang, vice president for investor relations at CommonWealth REIT, owner of the Arizona Center, said Corner Bakery Cafe would be a good fit for the center.
“Corner Bakery is a great addition to the property and brings a national presence to downtown,” Bonang said in a written statement. “We’re excited that they selected Arizona Center for their expansion and look forward to adding other businesses.”
Fiona Verceles, a former Starbucks employee, said that though Corner Bakery Cafe may take some business away from other restaurants, consumers will likely benefit from the new bakery because of a lack of quick-service breakfast options in the center.
Verceles, who currently works at 1130 Restaurant, said anything drawing people to the center would be beneficial to the current tenants.
However, some Downtown students feel the center is already “restaurant-heavy” and could use more shops and other types of businesses. Journalism freshman Tess Homan holds this opinion.
Homan said she would like to see businesses like Target occupy the center in order to meet the needs of students.
Alyssa Lee, also a freshman journalism student, said she would like to see a grocery store with reasonable pricing at the center, such as a Fry’s or Safeway.
“More retail stores and more stores with prices for our age group would be good,” she said.
Rebecca Lopez, a junior criminology major, said students would benefit from any business activity in the center and said she thought Corner Bakery Cafe would be a good alternative dining option.
Lopez, who has lived in the Phoenix area for four years, said despite this new addition to the center, there is still “not a lot going on.”
“It’s like a ghost town,” Lopez said. “I think everyone associates this campus with that mall.”
Contact the reporter at mlstewa3@asu.edu
