Panera Case Study
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June 23, 2013
Panera Case Study
Week 3
Panera Bread Company's beginnings come from a vision of one man who purchased the company from a French oven manufacturer Pavailler who opened a demonstration bakery. Louis Kane was struck by the potential of what the business could be so he purchased this business from Pavailler. Named Au Bon Pain (French for “where good bread is”) and opened 13 stores and closed 10 stores between 1978 and 1981. With bankruptcy in the future, Kane meets a fellow business owner and they became great friends. They decided to become business partners and in February 1981 they make it so.
Between 1981 and 1984 they worked to decrease the debt that the Au Bon Pain store had racked up. At the end of 1984 Kane retired as co-CEO. And during 1985 the partners added sandwiches to the menu after witnessing all of their customers that would bring in cold cuts to put on the breads they bought from Au Bon Pain. In 1981 the company went public and they had $68 million in sales and they were the leader in the quick service bakery segment. The company was built on a limited growth concept named by Shaich called “high density urban feeding”. In 1983 they expanded by adding the St. Louis Bread Company. This acquisition is what kick started Panera. Shaich and his team spelled out what the St. Louis Bread Company would be, and in a eureka moment Shaich realized that the potential of the neighborhood bakery-café concept capitalized on a confluence of current trends. (32-3).
After selling of the Au Bon Pain in 1986 the company had the capital to strategically focus its time and resources on the new venture Panera Bread Company. By 2009 Panera become a national bakery-café concept with company owned and franchised-operated bakery café location in 40 states and in Ontario, Canada. In 2010 after 28 years as CEO Ronald Shaich stepped down.
Resources:
The company’s term “Concept Essence” brought to the customer fresh baked artisan
June 23, 2013
Panera Case Study
Week 3
Panera Bread Company's beginnings come from a vision of one man who purchased the company from a French oven manufacturer Pavailler who opened a demonstration bakery. Louis Kane was struck by the potential of what the business could be so he purchased this business from Pavailler. Named Au Bon Pain (French for “where good bread is”) and opened 13 stores and closed 10 stores between 1978 and 1981. With bankruptcy in the future, Kane meets a fellow business owner and they became great friends. They decided to become business partners and in February 1981 they make it so.
Between 1981 and 1984 they worked to decrease the debt that the Au Bon Pain store had racked up. At the end of 1984 Kane retired as co-CEO. And during 1985 the partners added sandwiches to the menu after witnessing all of their customers that would bring in cold cuts to put on the breads they bought from Au Bon Pain. In 1981 the company went public and they had $68 million in sales and they were the leader in the quick service bakery segment. The company was built on a limited growth concept named by Shaich called “high density urban feeding”. In 1983 they expanded by adding the St. Louis Bread Company. This acquisition is what kick started Panera. Shaich and his team spelled out what the St. Louis Bread Company would be, and in a eureka moment Shaich realized that the potential of the neighborhood bakery-café concept capitalized on a confluence of current trends. (32-3).
After selling of the Au Bon Pain in 1986 the company had the capital to strategically focus its time and resources on the new venture Panera Bread Company. By 2009 Panera become a national bakery-café concept with company owned and franchised-operated bakery café location in 40 states and in Ontario, Canada. In 2010 after 28 years as CEO Ronald Shaich stepped down.
Resources:
The company’s term “Concept Essence” brought to the customer fresh baked artisan