Panera Bread

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Type	Public (NASDAQ: PNRA)
Industry	Restaurants
Founded	Kirkwood, Missouri (1981)
Founder(s)	Louis Kane Ken Rosenthal Ronald M. Shaich
Headquarters	Sunset Hills, Missouri, United States[1]
Number of locations	1493
Key people	Ronald M. Shaich, Chairman & Co-CEO William W. Moreton, President & Co-CEO
Products	Quick casual/Bakery–café, including several varieties of bread, such as bagels and muffins, cold sandwiches, hot panini, salads, and soups
Revenue	US$1.82 billion (FY 2011)[2]
Operating income	US$220.3 million (FY 2011)[2]
Net income	US$136.0 million (FY 2011)[2]
Total assets	US$1027 million (FY 2011)[3]
Total equity	US$655.1 million (FY 2011)[3]
Employees	4,746 full time (December 2005)
Website	panerabread.com

Panera Bread is a chain of bakery–café quick casual restaurants in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and operates as St. Louis Bread Company in the St. Louis metropolitan area.^[4][5]

Corporate history[link]

Panera Bread in Chicago's South Loop

In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the St. 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.^[6]

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.^[7] Au Bon Pain Co. then renamed itself Panera Bread. The company operates or franchises 1,453 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in 40 states^[6] and 17 facilities that deliver fresh dough to the bakery-cafés every day. Panera Bread's CEO is William Moreton.

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 100 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.^[8][9]

In 2007, Panera Bread purchased a majority stake in Paradise Bakery & Café, a Phoenix-based concept with over 70 locations in 10 states (predominantly in the west and southwest). The Company purchased the balance of Paradise in June 2009.^[10]

In 2008, Panera Bread expanded into Canada, beginning with Richmond Hill, Thornhill, and Mississauga in the Toronto area.^[11][12]

In a 2008 Health magazine study, Panera Bread was judged North America's healthiest fast casual restaurant.^[13]

In 2009, the restaurant review service Zagat named Panera one of the most popular restaurants for eating on the go.^[14] Panera was also rated #1 for Best Healthy Option,^[15] Best Salad,^[14] and Best Facilities, among restaurants with fewer than 5,000 locations.^[15]

Lawsuits[link]

In 2003, a lawsuit was filed by a former employee who claimed he was fired after allegedly refusing to carry out discriminatory policies set forth by his superiors.^[16]

On January 25, 2008, a class action lawsuit was filed against Panera Bread alleging Panera failed to disclose material adverse facts about the company's financial well-being, business relationships, and prospects.^[17] Panera settled the lawsuit and agreed to pay $5.75 million to shareholders while admitting no wrongdoing.^[18]

In 2009 and 2011, class action lawsuits were filed by former workers alleging that the company violated the California Labor Code, failed to pay overtime, failed to provide meal and rest periods, failed to pay employees upon termination, and violated California’s Unfair Competition Law. Panera set aside $5 million for the payment of claims. Panera denied any wrongdoing.^[19]

In 2011, a former employee filed a racial discrimination lawsuit alleging that he was eventually fired after repeatedly having a black man work the cash register instead of putting him in a less visible location and having “pretty young girls” be the cashiers, as requested by supervisors.^[20] The plaintiff also said he was fired after requesting another month off after returning from three months of medical leave.^[20] Panera said it "does not discriminate based on national origin, race or sex," and that the plaintiff "was terminated because he had used all of his medical leave and was unable to return to work."^[20] The plaintiff worked in a store owned by franchisee Sam Covelli,^[21] who also owns the stores that were involved in the 2003 racial discrimination lawsuit.^[22][23] Covelli Enterprises is the single largest franchisee of Panera bread with nearly 200 stores in Northeast Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and West Palm Beach, Florida.^[24]

Panera Cares[link]

In 2010, the company's non-profit foundation created Panera Cares, a non-profit "Pay what you can" restaurant in its home market of St. Louis. CEO Ron Shaich based the idea on an NBC profile of the SAME Cafe in Denver, Colorado.^[25][26] It has since expanded the concept to Dearborn, Michigan, and Portland, Oregon.^[27]

Internet access[link]

In 2006 and 2007, Panera was the largest provider of free Wi-Fi in the United States.^[28][29] Many locations restrict the duration of free Wi-Fi to 30 or 60 minutes during peak hours.^[30]

See also[link]

• Hotspot
• The Third Place

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Panera Bread corporate history
• My Panera Office Mobile Office Customers of Panera Bread