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In 1981, Shaich merged his Cookie Jar with three Au Bon Pain bakeries, which were led by Louis I. Kane, a Boston-area venture capitalist, and together they created Au Bon Pain Co. Inc. Shaich then led Au Bon Pain's conversion from bakeries to bakery cafés and the business took off.
Shaich teamed with one of the investors, a commercial real–estate veteran named Louis I. Kane, and revamped the Au Bon Pain concept, using what he learned from watching his baguette customers. "You didn't need a Harvard degree to see the opportunity," Shaich recalled in an interview with Wall Street Journal writer Carol Hymowitz.
St. Louis Bread Co.: 1987; 37 years ago () Kirkwood, Missouri, U.S. Panera Bread: 1998; 26 years ago () St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Founder: St. Louis Bread Company: Ken Rosenthal and Linda Rosenthal Panera Bread: Louis Kane and Ronald M. Shaich: Headquarters: Fenton, Missouri
In the 1980s, founder Ron Shaich merged his cookie store with a bakery, creating Au Bon Pain Co. Inc. Shortly thereafter, he and his late partner, Louis Kane, recognized the potential of transforming the company from a bakery selling croissants and bread to a bakery-cafe that used bread and croissants as a platform for selling upscale sandwiches.
- Starting out. In the '80s, Shaich and business partner Louis Kane checked out a cookie store/croissant shop in New England and saw the potential for a new sort of restaurant option.
- A mindset shift. During the next decade, Shaich and the team at Au Bon Pain detected a change in consumer behavior. “People wanted more than just a lot of cheap food—they wanted food they could feel good about,” he recalls.
- Growing season. Au Bon Pain prospered and grew. But a new opportunity presented itself. Shaich had been asked by entrepreneur Ken Rosenthal to help him franchise his Midwestern bakery-cafe, St. Louis Bread.
- Bucking the trend. The first decade of the new millennium was business as usual for most restaurant chains. Panera decided to break from the pack and focus intently on controlling costs.
May 5, 2020 · Video. Restauranteurs vRon Shaich, Louis Kane and Ken Rosenthal founded by Panera Bread, which is now a major heavy hitter among fast-casual restaurants, but the cafes have their roots in...
Dec 23, 2014 · From top left, clockwise: Panera CEO Ron Shaich, left, in front of the Clark University General Store in 1975; Shaich, center, on the opening day of the Cookie Jar in Boston in 1981; Shaich...
