The Panera Bread Co. bakery-and-cafe chain says yes. But a judge said no, ruling against Panera in its bid to prevent a Mexican restaurant from moving into the same shopping mall.
Whenever you read about a judge defining words, you have to ask "for purposes of what?" And here's the answer:
Panera has a clause in its lease that prevents the White City Shopping Center in Shrewsbury from renting to another sandwich shop. Panera tried to invoke that clause to stop the opening of an Qdoba Mexican Grill.
There it is: for purposes of the exclusivity clause in Panera's lease agreement. These anti-competitive clause tend to get construed narrowly so it is little surprise that a burrito would be consider an exception to the sandwich clause.
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