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| Source: dcclothsline.com |
Founder Ronald Shaich had big aspirations for his company in 2000. He wanted to take his restaurant and make it much bigger than it already was, and many were skeptical of his prospects. In the year 2000, his business had a revenue of $200 million and had 262 locations in 28 states. Today there are 1,541 locations on revenues of $1.82 billion dollars and his company is expected to grow even larger in the future. How did he do it?
Shaich found a niche in the market. Panera labeled itself as someplace between fast food and dining. He noticed that customers are willing to pay extra for products that seem higher end and designed Panera to make customers want to stick around and keep spending money. Shaich believes people would chose to treat themselves better if given the chance. During the economy crash, Panera didn't lower prices, but kept them the same. They didn't swap out any ingredients for cheeper ones, and even introduced a Lobster sandwich that was seventeen dollars. Panera also competed with other breakfast, lunch, and dinner restaurants. This kept people coming to them all day long. Shaich is constantly changing up items on the menu and anticipating what will be hot in the future.
FUTURE RESEARCH: In my next blog post I will try to answer the question of why is Jimmy Johns so successful.
FUTURE RESEARCH: In my next blog post I will try to answer the question of why is Jimmy Johns so successful.
I found your detailed analysis of the foods available at panera very insightful. I wish this blog post went further into detail about the experience of eating at the restaurant though.
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