Case 16
Dalia Leal
Columbia College
Case 16 Panera Bread Company (2010): Still Rising Fortunes Panera Bread Company is fast casual restaurant franchise that can be seen at various locations throughout the United States. Since its beginnings it has had a set apart concept that has kept it at the top for sales of its industry category. As with any company, it has its strengths and weaknesses. Its resources, capabilities and core competencies are cleverly utilized to ensure that it remains above the rest by continuing to remain innovative in its menu lines as well as being selective on where it’s located.
Synopsis
Panera Bread Company is one that most of us are familiar with as the casual …show more content…
C. therefore was limiting its growth, however that changed when it acquired the Saint Louis Bread Company in 1993. It came with 19-store bakery-café chains mostly located in Saint Louis Missouri. After two years of studying the Saint Louis Bread Company, Au Bon Pain management team had another turning point moment. It combined the bakery-café concept with a “welcoming atmosphere of coffee shops, the food of sandwich shops, and the quick service of fast food” (Wheelen, et al, 2014, p. 16-3). In the mean time, Au Bon Pain concept was suffering from fierce completion and largely in debt from bad real estate deals among falling operating margins. In 1999, Shaich decided that it was best to sell that portion of the company and focus his attention on building the Saint Louis Bread, now known as Panera …show more content…
Justification: I would recommend this because in keeping with the good community neighbor feel of the company, by adding the acquired companies signature menu item to Panera’s menu, they are showing that they’re not this big company buying out the little guy and can maintain their good neighbor status.
Weaknesses One of Panera’s weakness can be said to be its non-globalization. Aside from having a few restaurants in Canada, Panera has not expanded its franchised or company-owned locations to other countries, limiting its market to the United States. By limiting its market to the United States, it is not tapping into the global market. Recommendation: My recommendation would be for Panera to slowly expand its market to other countries and test it out. Justificaiton: By expanding its market to other countries, Panera can continue to grow its brand and sales.