Oprah Winfrey/Panera Bread Retail Stores

Oprah Winfrey opened her first and only retail store on February 8th 2008, located 37th North Carpenter Street in Chicago. The store represented Oprah in her taste and style as well as that of The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Oprah Winfrey Magazine. The location of the store was a perfect place for her audience to go to after the taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show and fans visiting the city.                                                             

The Oprah Store carried nearly 1,000 different products in the 5,500 square feet of retail space. 

· Souvenirs from The Oprah Winfrey Show

· Lounge, workout, luxury apparel

· O Baby - a line dedicated to infant product

 · South African arts and crafts

· Books and magazines

· Oprah's Closet is a section of The Oprah Store that is dedicated to items for sale that were once worn and loved by Oprah herself. All proceeds from the merchandise went to support Oprah's Angel Network. The store closed on May 25, 2011, the last day of the taping of “The Oprah Winfrey Showing”. Since I could not interview Oprah Winfrey about her retail store or fly to Chicago to get more information about the store.   

 

I decided to visit a Panera Bread Store located at 3801 35th Avenue, Long Island City. The Assist Manager of the store happens to be my nephew, Anthony Clarke. I did a little bit of research about the store before interviewing him at the store. He has been an Assist Manager for about a year. Mr. Clarke stated that “Panera Bread ”headquarters is located at 3630 S. Geyer Road, Suite 100, St. Louis, MO 63127. He also stated that the mission of Panera Bread is “A loaf of bread in every arm”. They’re bread leadership is with the single goal of making great bread broadly available to consumers across America, Panera Bread freshly bakes more bread each day than any bakery-cafe concept in the country. Every day, at every location, trained bakers craft and bake each loaf from scratch, using the best ingredients to ensure the highest quality breads. Panera Bread bakery-cafes showcase the art and craft of bread making, helping customers truly appreciate and enjoy a great loaf of bread by studying its crust, crumb and craft. Panera Bread understands that great bread makes great meals, from made-to-order sandwich to tossed-to-order salads and soup served in bread bowls.

The history of Panera Bread legacy started in 1981 as Au Bon Pain Co., Inc. Founded by Louis Kane and Ron Shaich, the company prospered along the east coast of the United States and internationally throughout the 1980s and 1990s and became the dominant operator within the bakery-cafe category. In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co., Inc. purchased Saint Louis Bread Company, a chain of 20 bakery-cafes located in the St. Louis area.

 In 2007, Panera Bread purchased a majority stake in Paradise Bakery & Café, a Phoenix-based concept with over 70 locations in 10 states (predominantly in the west and southwest). The Company purchased the balance of Paradise in June 2009. As of June 26, 2012, there are 1,591 bakery-cafes in 41 states and in Ontario Canada. operating under the Panera Bread®, Saint Louis Bread Co. and Paradise Bakery.

   

Mr. Clarke has stated “that the only way the company had made it during the recession was Panera’s strategy has been “to stay consistent and not to react to the recession”. Keeping cost constant and offering new salads and sandwiches”. They contribute the success to avoiding the discounting wars and maintain its margins by attracting customers with a higher quality product perceived to be a good value for the money.

 Panera Bread Opened its 1^st Store in Manhattan

When Panera Bread 1,500th store opened on February 07, 2012 it will be the company’s first location in Manhattan.

Anthony Clarke has stated that he enjoys his job. He takes pride in the Panera Bread

Company. He feels that he will someday be a Regional Manager for the Company.