Au Bon Pain in the Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame

Au Bon Pain (, meaning "at (or 'to') the Good Bread") is an American

fast casual restaurant A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate concep ...

, bakery, and café chain headquartered in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University of ...

and operates 175 locations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. The company is currently owned by AMPEX Brands. Au Bon Pain serves baked goods such as bread, pastries, croissants, and bagels as well as tea, coffee and espresso beverages, breakfast foods such as egg sandwiches, and lunch items such as soup, salads, and sandwiches. The company also offers

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

services. Most of the company's locations are found on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

, notably Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. Locations are either company-owned or franchised. Most of the company-owned locations are in Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. while franchise locations are operating in 19 states around the country, as well as internationally. The business model currently favors locations at colleges, hospitals and transportation stations.

History

Pavailler, a French manufacturer of baking equipment, established the company as a showcase for its ovens in 1976 at

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The company's principals included Louis Rapuano, Pavailler, and two minor investors. Pavailler contributed baking machinery to the venture. Au Bon Pain sold croissants, pastries, and bread produced by French bakers. In 1977, it opened stores in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jers ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1978, Au Bon Pain was acquired by Louis I. Kane, a venture capitalist who liked the smell of the products, for (equivalent to million in ). The business model was changed to sell baked goods instead of ovens. Francois Marin was hired to open and manage the first Au Bon Pain in Boston's

Quincy Market Quincy Market is a historic building near Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was constructed between 1824 and 1826 and named in honor of mayor Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction without any tax or debt. The market is ...

. By 1980, Au Bon Pain had over (equivalent to million in ) in sales, but was still losing money. In 1981, the company was suffering from its debt and on the verge of

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

, and a 60% interest in the company was acquired by Ronald M. Shaich and his father. In 1991, the company listed on the stock market via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. In 1993, the company acquired Saint Louis Bread Company, the predecessor of

Panera Bread Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri. The company operates as Saint Louis ...

, for (equivalent to million in ). The company also acquired the U.S. bakery locations of

Warburtons Warburtons is a British baking firm founded by Thomas Warburton in 1876 and based in Bolton, a town formerly in Lancashire, England, and now in Greater Manchester. For much of its history Warburtons only had bakeries in Lancashire and it remai ...

, which were converted to Au Bon Pain locations. In 1996, the company announced plans to upgrade the interior of its stores after reporting a loss. In 1997, the company considered opening locations in Peru. In 1999, Au Bon Pain Co. Inc. (later renamed Panera Bread) sold its Au Bon Pain division to Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. In 2000, it was sold to

Compass Group Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in locations including off ...

. In 2000, the company reached a franchise agreement with Gourmet Coffee Co. Ltd. of Taiwan to open the first locations of Au Bon Pain in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

. In 2005, Au Bon Pain management, in partnership with

PNC Financial Services The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the D ...

, purchased 75% of the company; Compass Group retained the remaining 25%. In March 2008, LNK Partners, a

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...

, acquired a controlling interest in the company. In 2011, all of its locations were renovated in a major remodeling program. In 2013, the company announced that by 2017, it would only use

free-range eggs Free-range eggs are eggs produced from birds that may be permitted outdoors. The term "free-range" may be used differently depending on the country and the relevant laws, and is not regulated in many areas. Eggs from hens that are only indoors m ...

. In 2014, under the leadership of Sue Morelli, Au Bon Pain was named one of the top women-led businesses in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. In January 2015, Au Bon Pain hired Katherine See as Executive Chef. In 2015,

UNITE HERE UNITE HERE is a labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. The union's members work predominantly in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries. The union was formed in 2004 by ...

, a labor union, targeted the company's employees at

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...

. The union published a report that the company was underperforming. In June 2016, Morelli retired and Ray Blanchette was named President and CEO. On November 8, 2017, Panera Bread announced the acquisition of Au Bon Pain, which had split off from Panera in 1999 after being created in 1981. Following the deal, Ron Shaich stepped down as the Au Bon Pain's chief executive, to be succeeded by Blaine Hurst, Panera's president. In 2018, the company looked to close its 9 locations in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

or convert them to Panera Bread locations. In December 2019, Au Bon Pain closed its last location in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, ending over 35 years of doing business in their former flagship city. In June 2021, AMPEX Brands purchased the chain from

in a deal which included around $60 million in assets. The deal ensured the preservation of the Au Bon Pain brand in light of the closing and conversion of various Au Bon Pain locations into Panera Bread locations. AMPEX Brands declined to disclose the exact value of the deal, but confirmed the inclusion of assets and franchise rights for 131 additional locations. AMPEX Brands also concurrently announced the move of the company's headquarters from Boston to its own headquarters in Texas.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1976 establishments in Massachusetts 1978 mergers and acquisitions 1981 mergers and acquisitions 1999 mergers and acquisitions 2000 mergers and acquisitions 2005 mergers and acquisitions 2008 mergers and acquisitions 2017 mergers and acquisitions Bakeries of the United States Bakery cafés Fast casual restaurants Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Private equity portfolio companies Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurant franchises Restaurants established in 1976 Companies based in Texas Restaurants in Texas

History

See also

References

External links