Panda Goes to Colleges

Panda Express currently has more than 750 restaurant locations in 36 states. Its new Panda Express university sites are slated to open at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and Central Florida University in Orlando. These will follow its rapid expansion into university sites in the last six months.

The newest restaurant will open at Arizona State University at Tempe before the end of the year, bringing the total number of college campus locations to 20. Recent openings include Kansas State University at Manhattan, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in August and the University of Oregon at Eugene in September. The restaurants at Michigan State University, East Lansing, and Oregon State University, Corvallis, were remodeled and reopened this fall.

The university locations are part of a larger expansion strategy that looks for locations in both traditional and non-traditional locations, according to company officials. John Mitchell, SVP of restaurant development for the chain, comments that the university locations "are a key growth area for us, and that means a lot of career opportunities and community partnerships on and nearby these campuses."

Panda Express launched in 1983 and opened its first restaurant in a non-traditional venue in a Vons grocery store in 1988. Since then, the restaurant company has expanded into nearly 45 Vons, Pavilions and Safeway locations, three Giant Food stores, three government buildings, six airports, 16 casinos, six amusement parks, five sport complexes, and one library. The chain's goals include opening 40 more restaurants in non-traditional venues by the end of 2006.