I go to Panera quite a bit. The food isn’t great, but it’s consistent, and relatively “healthy,” and there is one just down the street from me. I also joined their “Sip” club, since I always get an iced tea. Last week I went in, and there were no lemons for the tea. I figured that they were just out, and didn’t mention it. The next time I went in, there were still no lemons. I asked one of the managers, and he said that it was a corporate decision - no lemons.
Based on years of experience, that spells “Doom” in large, unfriendly letters. Once a place starts cutting corners, it’s all downhill.
There’s the root problem. I have a hard time telling Panera and Corner Bakery apart. In my experience they are equal in providing unmemorable food.
Yeah, and that is being real cheap. And lemons are a must have for iced tea, and I even like them in my diet soda.
However, I had two very bad experiences at a Panera near where I used to live in San Jose, and a message to corporate got me a “not our problem” type answer, so I dont go there anymore.
What is Panera Bread Probability Of Bankruptcy? PNRA | Macroaxis.
"Panera Bread’s likelihood of distress is above 80% at this time. It has very high risk of going through financial crunch in the upcoming years . Chance of distress shows the probability of financial torment over the next two years of operations under current economic and market conditions."
That manager may have said that, but it might not have been true. That location, or the regional group to which it probably belongs, may have made the decision and blamed it on corporate. Maybe that location or even the region is in financial difficulties, or something like that. A chain of over 2000 locations is not necessarily doomed, in letters of any size, because of one indicator like this.
I would send a written complaint letter to the location and to corporate, and question to them if it is a wise decision. If enough people do that, the policy could change, especially if corporate is unhappy with a local variation like this (if that’s what it is).
edited to add: there seems to be other information supporting OP’s view. I guess we’ll find out. I’m not a customer of Panera.
I made this observation in a recent thread about Boston Market closing most of their locations. Some years ago I noticed they took away napkins - after that you had to ask for them at the counter. A chicken restaurant without napkins, what a good idea. So no surprise, they’re going under. Maybe the lemons portend the same for Panera.
But I’ll take this a bit further and say I’m noticing this sort of thing all over the place these days. Shrinkflation, removal of services, less for more… anything to seemingly screw over customers and save half a penny. I’m so glad the economy is supposedly doing well. It appears to be partly thanks to giving up on the idea of providing value or service.
Relevant is the fact that they apparently (in Ohio at least) have just overhauled their menu. Gone is the almond chicken salad, tho they still have the berry salad and have a new solid Med salad that I like.
I like several of their breads but oddly they don’t feature them on their menus. And the breads they use for their signature sandwiches are mundane and forgettable. When our author’s group met there, I’d go in with the others and when it was my time to order I’d point to some rustic boule sitting cradled in a cubbyhole behind the cashier — is that sourdough, or rye, or what? Oh, good, can you slice me about 4 hunks of that and then an equal amount of sharp cheddar cheese?
Their soups are generally okay-to-nice.
Panera would consistently screw up our takeout orders, to the point where I started checking the bag before I left the store to make sure everything was correct. My wife has gone in a couple times and been completely ignored up front, while several people were just standing around chatting in the back. And the last time I went, they plated up my to-go order as a dine-in, and when I said it was supposed to be to-go the manager boxed it up and literally threw the bag across the counter at me. I haven’t been back.
There is a subreddit that will not let you post complaints about Panera anymore because it was taking up all the oxygen in the room. So ya they have a problem.
They have a quality control problem and a cost cutting mentality that is making things worse. Their coffee pots are almost always empty or cold- doom you would think for a casual cafe. I wonder why that killer lemonade crisis didn’t shut them down.
My department has occasional meetings where the admin orders lunch for all of us. The one place that consistently messes up the order: Panera. The management always makes good on it with vouchers for the future. But still…
I don’t know anything about Panera. Were they recently taken over by someone? The reason I ask is that I have more than once seen a thriving business taken over by a new owner who proceeds to institute cost-cutting policies that end up killing the business. I remember a very successful garden supply company that were taken over by an Ontario company. Previously the flats they sold were in remarkably good condition and I would buy at least a dozen every spring. After the takeover, half the plants in every flat were dead or dying and I bought nothing from them that year. A year later they were out of business.
The last time I went to Panera, a couple months ago, the food and service itself was decent, but the menu changes were confusing and it was quite expensive - a full meal with a drink could easily be $25 for one person. If those prices are universal and my experience was a relatively lucky one, then yes, I’d say they’re doomed.
They were sold (by the original founders, I think) to a German private company JAB in 2017.
In 2023 the CEO from the original Panera was replaced by the CEO of Einstein’s Bagels (which had been acquired by the same parent)
My employer exchanges quite a few employees with Panera. Things started going downhill a couple of years after the sale to JAB.
JAB is a private equity firm.
Panera never fails to disappoint me. I go in not expecting a lot but better than I get and the prices are high for what I get. I’ll try them a few times a year hoping for some better experience but it’s never delivered.
It’s not “bad” food but not good enough for the price.
Ten years ago Panera was 30-50% more expensive than fast food (McDonald’s/Wendy’s), but more than 50% better in quality and service.
Now the serving sizes are smaller, the prices are higher and the quality and service are, at best, inconsistent.
But ALL the fast casual places seem to be in this state now. Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s, Moe’s, all don’t seem to be as good as they were a decade ago.
There’s a new player I like called Cava, but I fully expect that they will over-expand now that they are publicly listed and go downhill in terms of price and quality.
Doom confirmed.
How? I’m not being sarcastic; I don’t know.
I never liked it much. My ex-wife seemed to enjoy it. But I haven’t been in years.
That’s why Wendy’s serves square hamburgers. They don’t cut corners.
Thd original Panera was “Saint Louis Bread Company”, a local small chain of excellence there.
They sold out to a rapacious mass market franchise mill that made the founders rich and they expanded like mad nationwide. Losing everything good in the transition.
The die was cast then: circa 2000. The chickens are finally coming home to roost now.
Post sell-out and while I still lived in St. Louis we took to calling it “food-free food”. Pretty to look at but devoid of actual calories or taste.
The rest of the story is simple continuous enshittification in pursuit of margin.
Restaurant chains do not last as long as other types of chain stores.
I think that when you read about why restaurant chains died, cost-cutting will be in there. It certainly was true with Howard Johnson, known for paying a lot to food suppliers when in its prime.