— Interview with Eduardo Luz — Panera puts on a show with several new design formats catering to the needs of an increasingly digital and off-premise guest. If variety is the spice of life, the many evolving iterations of Panera these days is keeping its real estate and construction game pretty hot. Currently boasting more than 2,100 bakery-cafes (in 48 states and Ontario, Canada), Panera operates under the Panera Bread® or Saint Louis Bread Co.® names; roughly half of these cafes are company-owned. Never a brand to sit …
Panera To Go
St. Louis — Panera Bread has opened the first of its new updated urban store format in New York, the newest of several new formats targeted at more densely populated and non-traditional trade areas. With digital sales at Panera now representing 50% of total system sales, Panera now offers a portfolio of store formats designed to cater to the needs of an increasingly digital and off-premise guest. “At Panera, our innovation has always been rooted in the guest and associate experience, how we can reduce friction, drive convenience and bring …
St. Louis — Panera Bread has opened the first “Panera To Go,” a new Panera Bread restaurant format offering digitally-enabled convenience for Rapid Pick-Up® and Delivery orders. The Chicago-based restaurant is the first of three Panera To Go test locations scheduled to open this year. Two additional Panera To Go cafes will open in California and Washington D.C. this year; the company will also evaluate adding in kiosk and catering orders to the new format in the future. Panera To Go is a digital-only bakery-cafe, with a reduced front of …