Au Bon Pain
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| Industry | Fast-casual bakery and café restaurant |
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| Founded | 1976 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Founder | Louis Rapuano Louis Kane |
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Area served
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United States, India, Thailand |
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Key people
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Susan Morelli, President and CEO |
| Owner | LNK Partners and management |
| Website | AuBonPain |
Au Bon Pain (French pronunciation: [o bɔ̃ pɛ̃], meaning "at (or to) the Good Bread") is an American fast-casual bakery and café chain headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1977, Louis Rapuano founded Au Bon Pain in Boston's Faneuil Hall. Since its inception, the chain has expanded throughout the United States. Additionally, there are numerous franchise locations internationally in India and Thailand.
Pavailler, a French baking equipment manufacturer, established the company as a showcase for its ovens in 1976 at Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The principals included Rapuano, Pavailler Machinery, and two minor investors. Pavailler contributed baking machinery to the venture. Au Bon Pain sold authentic croissants, pastries, and bread produced by French bakers.
Attorney Dick Bernstein, who had studied in Paris, suggested the name Au Bon Pain, which loosely translated means “place for good bread.” Corporate colors red, white, and blue mirrored the French tricolor. The logo uses the typeface Futura Black, designed by Paul Renner in 1929.
The concept of Au Bon Pain, to place baking equipment in full public view so customers could see and smell the baking, was revolutionary at that time. The first Au Bon Pain bakery, established in Boston’s Fanieul Hall in 1976, became an instant success. Within a short time two additional outlets opened, in Hackensack, New Jersey and in New York’s CitiCorp Building.
Within a few months investors Louis Kane and Arthur Blasberg, who were impressed by the shop in Fanieul Hall, approached us with an offer of financing to expand operations. We thanked Kane and Blasberg but turned down their generous offer. Some time later Pavailler began agitating for dividends to cover an unrelated financial obligation. Au Bon Pain management believed it unwise to disburse profits while the company was still in expansion mode. Mr. Rapuano then approached Mr. Kane to see if he was still interested in purchasing Pavailler’s interest, which he was. In 1978, Louis I. Kane, who was involved with a Columbo Frozen Yogurt franchise located in the mall, paid $1.5 million for Au Bon Pain and set out to sell baked goods instead of ovens. Francois Marin was hired to open and manage the first Au Bon Pain in Boston's Quincy Market by the businessman who owned Au Bon Pain in name only, but didn't have a store opened yet. The deal was consummated in Paris. Up to this time Au Bon Pain's corporate parent company was named Pavco; after the buyout its name was changed to Au Bon Pain Corporation.
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