Louis Bread Company Case Study
They decided to become business partners and in February 1981 they make it so. Between 1981 and 1984 they worked to decrease the debt that the Au Bon Pain store had racked up. At the end of 1984 Kane retired as co-CEO. And during 1985 the partners added sandwiches to the menu after witnessing all of their customers that would bring In cold cuts to put on the breads they bought from Au Bon Pain. In 1981 the company went public and they had $68 million in sales and they were the leader in the quick service bakery segment.
The company was built on a limited growth concept named by Isaiah called “high density urban feeding”. In 1983 they expanded by adding the SST. Louis Bread Company. This acquisition is what kick started Pane. Isaiah and his team spelled out what the SST.
Louis Bread Company would be, and in a eureka moment Isaiah realized that the potential of the neighborhood bakery-cafe© concept capitalized on a confluence of current trends (32-3). After selling of the Au Bon Pain In 1986 the company had the capital to strategically focus its time and resources on the new venture Pane Bread Company.
By 2009 Pane become a national bakery-cafe© concept with company wend and franchised-operated bakery cafe© location in 40 states and in Ontario, Canada. In 2010 after 28 years as CEO Ronald Isaiah stepped down. Resources: The company’s term “Concept Essence” brought to the customer fresh baked artisan bread, quality products, and a warm friendly, and comfortable environment. Ronald shall was the creator of the “starter” for the sourdough bread the company makes and is the driving force for the company.
The board member’s bring to the company a variety of backgrounds in the business and other area’s that helps to make the company successful.
Capabilities: The company’s capabilities are the fresh baked bread daily. Offering a meal upgrade program where the customer can order a enter©e and a beverage and have the opportunity to purchase a baked good to go with the meal for a price. During the recession the company worked on getting more out of a customer instead of more customers. This paid off for them and they had a great year. By keeping the labor force in place kept from taxing the customer and thus having better customer service.
They started the fast casual restaurant category. Core Competencies:
One of the main things that sets Pane apart from other companies Is the fresh- baked Artisan Breads and Fresh sandwiches, soups and salads that are nutritious. I nee company also NAS a store Tanat offers tenet Dread to customers wilt no set price. The customer pays what they can. They also donate all their day old bread to food pantries.
They have a new procedure to improve the quality of their salads and a newly designed grill for making Panic’s. Finding of Fact #1 : The company has been built on limited growth with a saying that Isaiah called “high density urban feeding”.
The company needs to expand their clientele to gain more sales. (p. 32.
1) Recommendations/Justifications: The Company has built a great business with the customers in the segment that they have been building their business. There are so many other customers out there that they have not even reached. Their company has only targeted the people that they can get the most out of each visit in the sales part. By having some of the items on the menu at a lower price they could bring in more customers that would not normally eat at an establishment that was so price.
By bringing in customers they loud be gaining that much more on their sales and up the companies net profit. Companies are always looking for ways to get more dollars out of each customer purchase that would up their sales.
The more people that you serve at a lower sale per customer would also get the sales you need. If Pane used both the higher dollar amount in their menu and the lower dollar menu they would have both the customers that can afford to eat at a higher end restaurant and also the customers that want to watch their money and thus the opportunity to gain more customers and turn them into loyal customers too.
Where I work we track the sales per transaction to see what the trends are for holidays and Just normal weeks. This gives us an idea of who our customers are and how they spend their money. The customer at Pane may purchase more because they have a place to sit and relax while they are enjoying their meal.
Finding of Fact #2: Located in suburbs, strip malls and regional mall locations. The company could expand It to different locations to help with sales. (P. 32-4) Recommendations/JustifIcations: The only customers that Pane is attracting at strip malls and regional malls are the hoppers that go to the malls.
Most people don’t go too mall to have a nice sit down dinner.
This is an area that needs to be addressed. They are missing out on customers from other area’s of the cities. By locating in the area’s that have more of the business office’s they would be able to gain the workers from those locations for breakfast and then again at lunch. If it’s within walking distance from most of these offices they could increase their sales and gain more loyal customers looking for a inanely alternative to teen Tats T with clients. An SST I nave salt down meal In a Nile atmosphere
By placing a Pane Bread near one of the other fast food restaurants the health conscious person would have a healthier choice than what the fast food restaurants have to offer and they also would have the nicer sit down atmosphere that a busy person is looking for that is comfortable and relaxing.
The company could do some test stores and see what would work in what area’s and tailor each new Pane for the location. The chain of stores I work for has different items to offer depending on the race of people that are the majority of customers.
This is a great move for the many to give the different races the items that they would consume at a competitive rate. This would gain more loyal customer and the spending habits is also something that the company would want to keep in mind as they try to attract new customers and make sure their loyal customers are happy. Finding of Fact #3: Customers don’t know what “fast casual” is, to customers it Just means food.
(p. 32-9) Pane Bread will need to use to their advantage what it is to eat at a “fast casual” restaurant. By coming up with an ad campaign that focuses on what “fast casual” is they could attract more customers.
As a customer I had no idea what Pane Bread was for a company let alone what they served in their restaurant side of the business. I have never eaten there because I was under the impression that they only had bread items like the first restaurant did when they opened up.
When the one locally opened I had no desire to go and buy bread from an expensive store since I could make my own cheaper. With this being an impression that I have about the company how many other people out there have the same. The Company needs to have more advertising that shows that they have more to offer than bread.
