Panera bread will now become the corporate sibling of Krispy Kreme, Peets Coffee, Caribou Coffee, Stumptown Coffee and Einstein Brothers Bagels. According to the article, Starbucks was interested in buying Panera!
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/ja ... 7-billion/
Panera Bread Sold to JAB
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Re: Panera Bread Sold to JAB
Panera was expensive, but it seemed to be high quality. It is unfortunate that it is being swallowed up by a big foreign corporation. Peets Coffee has been suffering from mediocre quality for the past few years.
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Re: Panera Bread Sold to JAB
I haven't noticed any real change in Einstein Bagels since the purchase by this group. The local location is a franchise and execution has been real mixed over the years. The coupons (which appear corporate issued) and promotional strategies seem the same as before the purchase. It is still expensive, shockingly slow speed of service, and decent quality. I like their coffee, especially the blend they run during the holidays, but others I have talked to do not like their coffee. Their iced tea is like a bullet and needs to be diluted by about 80% water or it will knock you over. Maybe that is a local location issue. They did recently switch to an egg cooker/fresh cracked eggs (the old method was microwaved eggs - yuck on a $5.49+ bagel and egg sandwich).
I feel like Panera is a much more... what is the word... broad attracting... concept than the rest of these and does far higher per unit volumes than the others... I think this is their best purchase yet. I think all of these are good concepts but I don't think we've seen much significant growth at Peet's, Caribou (think that one has seen closures), or Krispy Kreme since they took those brands over.
It will be interesting to see if they continue Panera's growth. Panera is a great concept, it is amazing the money they get from customers for what they are offering. They have a nice atmosphere in their locations, though. Their "baked goods" seem about on par with an average supermarket bakery or a Kroger bakery (meaning worse than a good supermarket bakery).
I feel like Panera is a much more... what is the word... broad attracting... concept than the rest of these and does far higher per unit volumes than the others... I think this is their best purchase yet. I think all of these are good concepts but I don't think we've seen much significant growth at Peet's, Caribou (think that one has seen closures), or Krispy Kreme since they took those brands over.
It will be interesting to see if they continue Panera's growth. Panera is a great concept, it is amazing the money they get from customers for what they are offering. They have a nice atmosphere in their locations, though. Their "baked goods" seem about on par with an average supermarket bakery or a Kroger bakery (meaning worse than a good supermarket bakery).
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Re: Panera Bread Sold to JAB
Einstein's is just awful but they do well in places that don't know what a bagel is. Panera does well in places where competitors like Corner Bakery (better desserts and a strong catering operation) and Au Bon Pain (same concept but a little less mass market) don't have much presence. Panera's franchises apparently lag the owned/operated stores, so perhaps they will be trying to change the franchise balance or try to figure out how to increase franchise business. Some of the gap is attributed to different purchasing systems but I suspect it's the old problem of uneven franchisees. Peet's strength has always been the coffee--they seem to adopted Caribou's lackluster baked goods in the old Caribou territory but not on their old home turf on the West Coast.
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Re: Panera Bread Sold to JAB
Peet's business plan has always been to sell more coffee beans in retail. Their goal has been to use the cafes to build a loyal following who will then buy the beans for home use. That's why you don't see them opening hundreds of locations but are way more selective.storewanderer wrote:I haven't noticed any real change in Einstein Bagels since the purchase by this group. The local location is a franchise and execution has been real mixed over the years. The coupons (which appear corporate issued) and promotional strategies seem the same as before the purchase. It is still expensive, shockingly slow speed of service, and decent quality. I like their coffee, especially the blend they run during the holidays, but others I have talked to do not like their coffee. Their iced tea is like a bullet and needs to be diluted by about 80% water or it will knock you over. Maybe that is a local location issue. They did recently switch to an egg cooker/fresh cracked eggs (the old method was microwaved eggs - yuck on a $5.49+ bagel and egg sandwich).
I feel like Panera is a much more... what is the word... broad attracting... concept than the rest of these and does far higher per unit volumes than the others... I think this is their best purchase yet. I think all of these are good concepts but I don't think we've seen much significant growth at Peet's, Caribou (think that one has seen closures), or Krispy Kreme since they took those brands over.
It will be interesting to see if they continue Panera's growth. Panera is a great concept, it is amazing the money they get from customers for what they are offering. They have a nice atmosphere in their locations, though. Their "baked goods" seem about on par with an average supermarket bakery or a Kroger bakery (meaning worse than a good supermarket bakery).
However, I have to think at some point there will be some "synergies" among all these brands. The coffee at Einstein's is garbage. At some point, they've gotta start serving Peet's. Panara will probably add Stumptown coffee eventually. Krispy Kreme serving Caribou Coffee makes sense. The cross over list is endless. But I imagine at some point it has to happen otherwise why are they buying all these companies up in related industries?
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Re: Panera Bread Sold to JAB
Panera seems to do reasonably well here, but they have little direct competition. The only real chain competitor I can think of in this area would be Specialty's. They seem to stick to primarily urban locations, and tend to be overpriced and mediocre in comparison, but seems to target areas with few other options.
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Re: Panera Bread Sold to JAB
Einstein quality isn't terrible if you set your expectations right. For a place that is selling bakeoff frozen dough products it is pretty good; as good as a high quality supermarket bakery that does the same things, and not much more expensive (Safeway 89 cents for a bagel; Einstein 1.09 for a bagel and much better flavor variety; not much of a difference in cost). The only supermarket in close proximity to the local Einstein is a Save Mart who has a terrible, useless bakery with 4 bagel flavors on a good day (or no bagels on a bad day) and they have the bright idea at this particular Save Mart to shape the blueberry, cinnamon, and sometimes even plain bagels in an 8 shape and dip them in donut glaze; a super sugary sticky mess. You just have to set your expectations up for round shaped bread and it is actually pretty good over at Einstein. Einstein also makes a great pretzel bagel, far better than pretzel bread products offered by various supermarkets (Smiths, Safeway, or Whole Foods) which tend to be quite dry. The Einstein pretzel bagel is more like a pretzel bread round shaped with a hole in it, but still very good; soft and with a good flavor. Not at all like a real bagel, but again, that is not what I expect when I go to Einstein. The egg sandwiches are excellent. The danish/cookies are good albeit overpriced. I like the coffee, though I stick to the unsweetened vanilla, hazlenut, or seasonal flavors...
For instance I think the quality of the baked goods is much better at Einstein than Starbucks (who sells defrost and serve frozen pre baked products). They are also lower in price.
For instance I think the quality of the baked goods is much better at Einstein than Starbucks (who sells defrost and serve frozen pre baked products). They are also lower in price.
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Re: Panera Bread Sold to JAB
You're setting a very low bar for Einstein's, which is why they do well in places like say, Atlanta where the lowest common denominator always seems to do well (Panera is a fave there, too). Brueggers somehow turns out a much better product with a similar business model.
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Re: Panera Bread Sold to JAB
Sorry man but I'll take a Starbucks Chonga bagel for 2 bucks with cream cheese anyday over the garbage at Einsteins. Then don't get me started on the coffee.storewanderer wrote:Einstein quality isn't terrible if you set your expectations right. For a place that is selling bakeoff frozen dough products it is pretty good; as good as a high quality supermarket bakery that does the same things, and not much more expensive (Safeway 89 cents for a bagel; Einstein 1.09 for a bagel and much better flavor variety; not much of a difference in cost). The only supermarket in close proximity to the local Einstein is a Save Mart who has a terrible, useless bakery with 4 bagel flavors on a good day (or no bagels on a bad day) and they have the bright idea at this particular Save Mart to shape the blueberry, cinnamon, and sometimes even plain bagels in an 8 shape and dip them in donut glaze; a super sugary sticky mess. You just have to set your expectations up for round shaped bread and it is actually pretty good over at Einstein. Einstein also makes a great pretzel bagel, far better than pretzel bread products offered by various supermarkets (Smiths, Safeway, or Whole Foods) which tend to be quite dry. The Einstein pretzel bagel is more like a pretzel bread round shaped with a hole in it, but still very good; soft and with a good flavor. Not at all like a real bagel, but again, that is not what I expect when I go to Einstein. The egg sandwiches are excellent. The danish/cookies are good albeit overpriced. I like the coffee, though I stick to the unsweetened vanilla, hazlenut, or seasonal flavors...
For instance I think the quality of the baked goods is much better at Einstein than Starbucks (who sells defrost and serve frozen pre baked products). They are also lower in price.