Panera Bread Company

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Synopsis

Panera Bread Company is a national bakery-cafe with locations across the US and Canada. Panera bread prides itself on selling breads, sandwiches, soups and salads. Panera grew out of a company called Au Bon Pain which was a demonstration bakery (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012, p. 32-2). Louis Kane purchased Au Bon Pain in 1978. From 1978 to 1981 he piled up $3 million in debt (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012, p. 32-2). Kiane who was ready to declare bankruptcy gained a new business partner, Ronald Shaich a recent Harvard graduate. Shaich was the hard driving, analytical strategist focused on operations, and Kane was the seasoned businessperson with a wealth of real estate and finance connections (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012, p. 32-2).

In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the Saint Louis Bread Company, which was founded by Ken Rosenthal. Shaich saw this as the company’s “gateway into the suburban marketplace(Wheelen & Hunger, 2012, p. 32-2). At the same time, the St. Louis Bread Company was renovating its 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area. Management spent many years looking for the ideal concept that would unite the two company’s operantional abilities and quality of food. Saint Louis Bread Company would eventually become the platform for Panera Bread(Wheelen & Hunger, 2012, p. 32-2).

In May 1999 Saich would sell Au Bon Pain for $73 million. This sale would leave Panera Bread Company debt-free and the cash allowance for the immediate expansion of its bakery-café stores. The company would grow thorough franchise agreements, acquisitions and new company owned bakery-cafes(Wheelen & Hunger, 2012, p. 32-3).

Resources

Panera’s goal is to offer its customer a memorable experience with superior customer s...

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...ay our grandparents did it: no preservatives, no chemicals, with a stone deck oven. The quality of food came not just from how cheap it was, and not just how fast it was served. It was food defined by the quality of the ingredients, the taste, the flavors, how fresh it was. The environment in stores was part of that, and the people who work there were part of that. To develop a strong connection with our customers, our bakery-cafes are staffed by engaged associates who are skilled at and passionate about their jobs. I believe high-quality restaurant management is critical to our long-term success and, as such, we provide detailed operations manuals and hands-on training to each of our associates.

Works Cited

Wheelen, T., & Hunger, J. (2012). Strategic management and business policy: Toward global sustainability (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

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