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Panera Bread history
Panera Bread company history timeline
During the early expansion of Au Bon Pain, another bakery-café, St Louis Bread, started up in Kirkwood, Missouri, in 1987.
In 1987, Ken and Linda Rosenthal founded The St Louis Bread Company with the first location in Kirkwood, Missouri.
Panera is traded publically on NASDAQ, and on the day it went public, June 10, 1991, shares topped out at $13.25, according to Yahoo! Finance.
Inc. became a publicly traded company in 1991 and opened hundreds of bakery-cafes, becoming a familiar fixture in cities along the East Coast and overseas.
Meanwhile, in 1991, Au Bon Pain went public, made its initial public offering (IPO), and continued its growth through expansion of its operations and acquisitions.
In 1992, after working out a franchise development agreement in Chile, the company also began branching into foreign markets.
In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co., a public company, purchased the St Louis Bread Company for $23 million.
By the end of 1996, Au Bon Pain had grown to 231 company-run and 58 franchised bakery-cafés.
For the 1996 fiscal year, total sales generated by the company-owned stores and its franchised units reached approximately $259 million.
Hoping to turn things around, late in 1996 the company named Robert C. Taft to the newly created position of president.
In 1997, Au Bon Pain changed the company name to Panera, from a word that has roots in the Latin word for "breadbasket". At the same time, the St Louis Bread Company renovated its 20 bakery-cafés in the St Louis area.
1998-99: Company Divests Its Au Bon Pain Division
In May 1999 Panera Bread ventured into a national
By November 1999, contractual commitments for opening new stores had reached 600 and were being negotiated.
During 2000, Panera grew at what the St Louis Business Journal termed "a blistering rate." It opened more than 50 new bakery-cafés by the end of the third quarter, and in December announced plans to enter Rhode Island, its 28th state.
2000-01: Accelerated Growth Promises a Solid Future for Panera
In 2007, Panera Bread purchased a 51% stake in Paradise Bakery & Café, a Phoenix metropolitan area-based concept with over 70 locations in 10 states, predominantly in the west and southwest, for $21.1 million.
In October 2008, Panera Bread expanded into Canada, opening locations in Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Oakville, and Mississauga in the Greater Toronto Area.
The company purchased the balance of Paradise in June 2009.
In November 2010, Panera Bread relocated its headquarters to Sunset Hills while vacating its Richmond Heights headquarters and Brentwood, Missouri offices.
Recognizing growing consumer demand for craft offerings and convenience, we’ve worked since 2010 to reposition Panera as a better competitive alternative with expanded runways for growth.
In 2010, the Panera donated a whopping $100 million worth of unsold bread and baked goods.
In February 2011, Panera agreed to pay $5.75 million to shareholders while admitting no wrongdoing, settling the lawsuit.
In May 2014, Panera unveiled "Panera 2.0", a series of integrated technologies including new capabilities for digital ordering, payment, operations, and ultimately, consumption.
In September 2015, many Paradise Bakery & Café locations were rebranded as Panera Bread.
On March 23, 2016, Panera opened its 2,000th location, a cafe in Elyria, Ohio.
479 07 November 2016 Synopsis Panera is said to be the benchmark of a relatively newfangled restaurant segment titled fast casual.
Panera also made a commitment to remove artificial additives (colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives) on its "No No List" from the food in its US bakery-cafes by the end of 2016.
In January 2017, Panera announced its food menu was free of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives.
On November 8, 2017, Panera announced that founder Ron Shaich was stepping down as CEO, and company president Blaine Hurst would take over.
In 2017, digital orders accounted for over $1 billion in orders, or 26% of sales.
In January 2018, the company formed a consulting business to help restaurants remove artificial ingredients from their menus.
In May 2018, the company introduced delivery services to 897 cities in 43 states, employing its own drivers.
On October 28, 2020, Panera announced they would add pizza to their menu to increase dinner options for customers.
On August 5, 2021, Panera announced that it had merged with Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros.
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Panera Bread competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendy's | 1969 | $2.2B | 12,500 | 6,512 |
| Sonic Drive-In | 1953 | $423.6M | 5,000 | 6,198 |
| P.F. Chang's China Bistro | 1993 | $1.2B | 20,000 | 1,215 |
| Darden Restaurants | 1968 | $11.4B | 175,000 | 4,406 |
| BJ's Restaurants | 1978 | $1.4B | 23,000 | 986 |
| Noodles & Company | 1995 | $493.3M | 7,001 | 1,211 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 1993 | $11.3B | 64,570 | 4,294 |
| Subway | 1965 | $16.1B | 5,000 | 709 |
| Buffalo Wild Wings | 1982 | $2.0B | 44,000 | 1,325 |
| Applebee's Canada | 1980 | $2.5B | 28,000 | 1,410 |
Panera Bread history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Panera Bread, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Panera Bread. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Panera Bread. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Panera Bread. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Panera Bread and its employees or that of Zippia.
Panera Bread may also be known as or be related to Panera Bread, Panera Bread Co, Panera LLC and american bread co dba panera bread.