Shop Talk
Retailers, consumers and prices
Panera’s pick-what-you-pay cafe holds its own
Panera Bread’s hometown experiment in altruism appears to be working.
About eight weeks after opening Panera Cares — a nonprofit restaurant that invites customers to take what they need and pay what they can — executives say it appears to be on-track to covering its costs and becoming self-sufficient.
“It’s a fascinating test of humanity,” Panera Executive Chairman Ron Shaich told Reuters.
“On average, we’re coming in around 85 percent of the average retail price,” said Shaich, whom Panera Bread’s CEO has dubbed the “guiding light” of Panera Cares.
St. Louis-based Panera Bread provides the space to house the experimental cafe, which is run by a nonprofit group that grapples with the same labor and food costs as any other restaurant.
Check Out Line: Restaurants offer earnings to digest
Check out the latest earnings on the menu from restaurant chains.
Panera Bread and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro have served up higher earnings, although Panera was slightly above expectations and P.F. Chang’s slightly below.
Panera, which sells bread, salads and sandwiches, said revenue rose but predicted lower-than-expected earnings for the current quarter.
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