St. Louis Bread Company
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as |
NASDAQ: PNRA S&P 400 Company |
| Industry | Fast food |
| Founded | 1987 Kirkwood, Missouri, US |
| Founder | Kenneth J. Rosenthal Ronald M. Shaich Louis Kane |
| Headquarters | Sunset Hills, Missouri, U.S. |
|
Number of locations
|
2000 stores (March 2016) |
|
Area served
|
United States, Canada |
|
Key people
|
Ronald M. Shaich (CEO, Chairman), Drew Madsen, President |
| Products | Fast casual/Bakery-café, including several varieties of bread, such as bagel and baguettes, cold sandwiches, hot panini, salads, soups, coffee and teas |
| Revenue | US$2,681,580 (2015) |
| US$149,325 (2015) | |
| Total assets | US$1,475,3185 (2015) |
|
Number of employees
|
47,191 including 23,821 who work at least 25 hours per week (December 2015) |
| Subsidiaries | Paradise Bakery & Café |
| Website | panerabread |
Panera Bread Company is an American chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and operates as Saint Louis Bread Company in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Offerings include soups, salads, pasta, sandwiches, and bakery items.
St. Louis Bread was founded by Ken Rosenthal in 1987 when he opened the first location in Kirkwood, Missouri. In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the St. Louis Bread Company. In 1997, Au Bon Pain changed the company name to Panera, a word that has roots meaning "bread basket" in Latin. At the same time, the St. Louis Bread Company was renovating its 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area.
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. Panera Bread moved into its new headquarters in Richmond Heights, Missouri in 2000. The company operates or franchises more than 1900 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in 46 states and 20 facilities that deliver fresh dough to the bakery-cafés every day. Panera Bread's CEO is Ron Shaich.
In the St. Louis area where it was founded, Panera Bread still operates under the name St. Louis Bread Company. The St. Louis metropolitan area has over 101 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. 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. 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. Panera settled the lawsuit and agreed to pay $5.75 million to shareholders while admitting no wrongdoing. In 2008 Panera Bread expanded into Canada, beginning with Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Oakville, and Mississauga in the Toronto area. In 2009 and 2012, the restaurant review service Zagat named Panera one of the most popular restaurants for eating on the go. Panera was also rated No. 1 for Best Healthy Option, Best Salad, and Best Facilities, among restaurants with fewer than 5,000 locations.
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Wikipedia