Panera Bread 

Panera Bread
Type Public (NASDAQ: PNRA)
Founded 1987 in Kirkwood, Missouri
Headquarters Richmond Heights, Missouri, United States1
Key people Ken Rosenthal, founder
Ronald M. Shaich, founder, chairman, and CEO
Louis Kane, founder1
Industry Restaurants
Products Fast casual/Bakery-café, including several varieties of bread, such as bagels and muffins, cold sandwiches, hot panini, salads, soups, and pizzas
Revenue $597.09 million USD (2005)
Employees 4,746 full time (December 2005)
Website www.panerabread.com

Panera Bread in Chicago's South Loop

Panera Bread (called St. Louis Bread Company in the St. Louis area) is a chain of bakery-café restaurants in the United States and Canada which sells breads, sandwiches, soups, bakery items, and organic foods; some locations offer dinner pizzas. Panera is considered a "fast casual" restaurant.

Contents

Corporate history

In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the Saint Louis Bread Company, which was founded by Ken Rosenthal. At the same time, the St. Louis Bread Company was renovating its 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area.2

In May 1999, to expand Panera Bread into a national restaurant, Au Bon Pain Co. sold its other chains, including Au Bon Pain, which is now owned by Compass Group North America.3 Au Bon Pain Co. then renamed itself Panera Bread. The company operates or franchises 1,160 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in 40 states2 and 17 manufacturing plants to support the bakery-cafés. Panera Bread's CEO is Ron Shaich.

In its headquarters city of St. Louis, Panera Bread still operates under the name St. Louis Bread Company. The St. Louis metropolitan area has over 50 locations.

In 2005, Panera ranked 37th on BusinessWeek's list of "Hot Growth Companies", earning $38.6 million with a 42.9% increase in profits.45

Panera Bread plans to expand into Canada, beginning with Toronto in 2008.67

Internet access

Most locations offer free wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) access to customers. Panera operates the largest free wireless network in the United States.89 This service includes SonicWALL Internet filtering, which queries a central database before blocking or allowing access by category; the filter has been known to incorrectly categorize sites.10

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Panera Bread Press Kit". Panera Bread. Retrieved on 2007-09-27.
  2. ^ a b "Our History". Panera Bread. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  3. ^ Au Bon Pain: bakery-cafe weighs in on diet fads, offers more healthful fare to concerned customers Nation's Restaurant News, January 31, 2005.
  4. ^ "St. Louis Firms Make BusinessWeek's Hot Growth List", St. Louis Commerce Magazine (2005-09-01). 
  5. ^ "Giving Fast Food A Run For Its Money", Businessweek (2006-04-17). 
  6. ^ Walkup, Carylyn (2006-06-19). "Panera Bread to launch dinner menu, push toward 1,000 units", Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved on 3 March 2008. 
  7. ^ Brown, Lisa R (2007-10-26). "Panera Bread headquarters in play", St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved on 3 March 2008. 
  8. ^ Zumpano, Anthony (2006-10-23). "Panera Bread: flour power", features, brandchannel. Retrieved on 26 November 2007. 
  9. ^ Nowlin, Terrence (2006-11-01). "Plugging into wireless: wireless Internet is making its way into more parks nationwide", Parks & Recreation, National Recreation and Park Association. Retrieved on 26 November 2007. 
  10. ^ "SonicWall at Computers OnSale". Computers OnSale. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.

External links