Non-profit Panera cafe: Take what you need, pay what you can

[RamboLiberal]

Source: USA Today

Imagine walking into a Panera Bread and picking out anything you wanted to eat or drink — then, at the end of the line, instead of handing your money to a cashier, you faced a donation box.

What would you do if you knew that some of the money you placed in the box would be used to train at-risk youths or to feed folks lacking funds to feed themselves?

That's what Panera Bread is trying to find out this week in an outside-the-box experiment in St. Louis. It's a concept that has never been tested by a restaurant chain — and that marks a new career for Ron Shaich, who stepped down as Panera's CEO last week.

"I'm trying to find out what human nature is all about," says Shaich, 56, who has converted a former Panera-owned restaurant in an urban area of St. Louis into a non-profit restaurant dubbed Saint Louis Bread Company Cares Cafe. (Similar cafes planned outside of the St. Louis area will be called Panera Cares Cafes. Panera was founded in St. Louis and still brands its restaurants there as St. Louis Bread Company.)

A sign at the entrance says: "Take what you need, leave your fair share." Customers who can't pay are asked to donate their time. The cafe opened Sunday and will operate seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.


Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-05-18-panerabread18_ST_N.htm

---

Great idea, I hope this works. I'd love to see this in my area. I love Panera's and eat there quite often.

[LiberalLoner]

1. I hope it works too. I so want to believe in human nature again. n/t

[calimary]

23. Very well put. Sadly so.

I, too, want to believe in human nature again. All I see is penny-wise/pound-foolish-ism (if indeed that's a phrase), deceit, greed, selfishness, willful - even prideful - ignorance, meanness and bullying, and the reckless fouling of nests.

[joeybee12]

2. KNR...great idea...n/t

[supernova]

3. Hope this is a success

Would be a terrific alternative business model.

Good luck to him.

:thumbsup:

I hope they open up one here. I think it would work.

edit: In honor of their attempt. I'll go have lunch at Panera today.

:-)

[Uncle Joe]

4. Good for Panera Bread, after reading this I will have lunch at one tomorrow

here in Nashville.

Thanks for the thread, RamboLiberal.:thumbsup:

[EXneoCON]

5. Panera shows...

...the "Christians" how it's done.

[Pooka Fey]

6. Good on Panera Bread Company. I love their goodies. nt

[readmoreoften]

7. Wow, I wish I was around. I'd pay extra for my food for sure.

[Kablooie]

8. Very interesting. I would expect it to work at first but the income to decrease in time.

[Oregone]

9. Real capitalists would donate a nickel, resell the bread and feel they worked hard for the profit

[CTLawGuy]

60. arbitrage!

good point. Though I doubt it would work on a macro level for anyone.

[elleng]

72. Not REAL capitalists, but real greedy, selfish b....rds, imo.

[Joanne98]

10. That's actually a really good idea. A small restaurant owner tried it

He asked people to pay what they thought was fair and he ended up making more money. Go figure.

[jwirr]

11. In the 70s when I was at the University of Iowa there was a restaurant

that had a similar sign but we could donate labor for the meal. The food was delicious as I remember it. Some preferred to pay of course.

[marions ghost]

12. I'll be interested in this!

It sounds impossible. Wouldn't most people take advantage of it? And customers donating their time?!?
(WILL WORK FOR FOOD!?--guess that's a good business model for a severe recession). What about people not qualified to do any work who want to work? Well, obviously there are lots of issues.

I wish they'd just make the cost lower across the board. The donation to good causes idea is OK--it usually works as an incentive to buy. That's a good idea.

I'm skeptical of this for some reason. Maybe someone in a retail food business can tell me why I feel that way. I'm not sure.
:shrug:

[JDPriestly]

15. There are no people not qualified to work in a close-knit community.

A small child can sort things. And there is plenty of sorting to do in a restaurant. A person in a wheel chair can greet people and tell customers about specials. And if one person can't do something alone, he or she can do it with just a bit of help. So, it will work out.

[marions ghost]

18. A cohesive group can do this, but

you can't say everyone who walks in is qualified. No way. I belong to 2 nonprofit co-op groups. It's very structured in both. I'm skeptical of this random aspect. A co-op has to be a tight group or it falls apart.

[Tunkamerica]

50. well, panera doesn't have greeters really and no specials to speak of

they usually have 4-5 people on at a time per shift. IF everyone chose to work instead of pay it wouldn't last long.

[JDPriestly]

54. I read somewhere that this Panera is in a fairly upscale neighborhood.

That means there will be many people who will pay, and many will go because it is a non-profit and gives proceeds, if any, to charity.

[wolfgangmo]

66. Previous experments in this line done by social scientists shows that...

most people choose to pay.

Of course there needs to be a core group of devoted employees, but if someone needs some food they can always move bags of flour, stir, pour, etc. under supervision of trained cooks, etc.


It'll work as long as some asshat like Beck or the Freepers get ahold of it. They will willfully ruin it by having their stupid minions flood the store to pull it apart.

[jamesatemple]

65. I'd like to donate some time and labor myself.

I'm retired, nearing 70 years old, and my wife and I are able to live comfortably but not extravagantly. If I lived near a restaurant operating on such a system as the one described here, I think I would visit the place to see if there was some labor I could do to help.

My brother and I were the only children born to Mom and Pop, so, many of our chores consisted of dish washing, bathroom cleaning, even ironing pillow cases (boy, how times have changed). My brother claimed that he was the only boy on the football team with "dishpan" hands! Consequently, washing dishes, sweeping floors, or cleaning bathrooms is not a foreign concept to me. On the other hand, my doing so might jeopardize the income of someone who now does those jobs.

Surely, there must be some labor I could perform that would help one group of folks and not harm another group. I truly hope that this experiment is successful.

[Duer 157099]

13. My cynical guess is that this will work in the short term

and then when the novelty wears off, the people who chip in more will stop doing so.

But, in the early stages when it's working, it will be cited as a prime example of why a social safety net is not needed, because the community really can and will take care of it's own.

Sorry, but I've lived long enough to know that unless forced or persuaded in some way, those with money just will not part with it.

[marions ghost]

22. I have to agree with your statement

that "those with money just will not part with it."

The phenomenon is that those with less will donate more, proportionately, because they know what it feels like to worry about not having enough.

Those who really have the big bucks and have no concept of poverty will not donate proportionately unless made to, or given a very big incentive. The rich are NOT generous. You have to give them presents.

The concept of the cafe may work because of the specific demographic that already frequents Panera.

[Duer 157099]

24. Exactly. The ones with the "real" bucks will probably pay less or none at all

They are the cheapest bastards in the world, always expecting to be given everything because they are rich. It's the fuckingest thing. Like those swag baskets at events that the rich attend, why the fuck do they need giveaways? But yet, that's what they are used to.

Those that will give will quickly exhaust their ability to continue doing so.

[marions ghost]

27. We're thinking alike

and I can tell the opinion comes from experience. I've seen the behavior over and over also. That's why speaking confidently about it is no problem.

I wonder if the Panera model would just break down into a microcosm of America, where the "middles" shoulder the financial burdens of the society as a whole, and the rich...shelter themselves.

It would allow some to work for low-cost food. That's the only benefit I see, for those who are underemployed.

[liberation]

30. It sounds to me like you don't trust yourself to pay fair price if given the choice...

;-)

[marions ghost]

38. at my income level

I'm trained to look for bargains. I'd have a hard time evaluating what was "fair" unless I could see their books. So yeah, I'm sure I'd have no problem giving myself a bit of a discount. Y'know, just a preferred customer discount. This is better than those stupid coupons and punchcards & rebates and all that junk ;)

[Tunkamerica]

51. fuckingest. never seen that one before.

[Abq_Sarah]

26. Clayton

Is a pretty affluent area. A project like this needs people who will pay full price + to make up for those who won't, regardless of whether or not they can afford it. My only problem with this is the lack of taxes paid by the organization which puts the burden of paying for the infrastructure they use on other businesses.

[marions ghost]

28. yes I can't really see this working where people

are not well enough off. Maybe the work option would work, but not the "pay whatever" option.

Good point about taxes. I'm not an expert, but don't nonprofits have to have community value--some way of justifying the subsidy they get? Maybe they offset what the community would bear in social support, like soup kitchens. I'm a little out of my element here, since my co-op affiliations are not about food and have a clear mission of payback to the community.

[JDPriestly]

14. Sounds like fun. I bet they will get lots of volunteers to make the bread

and serve tables.

Actually, think about pot-luck suppers. Isn't that how they work?

I belong to an organization that has a sort of coffee shop. People just bring cookies and stuff and put them on the counter. We pitch in to buy coffee and tea. We do our own dishes.

This will work IF a community forms in the cafe. One week is probably not enough to form the kind of community in which people feel confident enough in each other to share readily. But if the people who hang out at the cafe form friendships, they will share and work together.

[marions ghost]

16. yes it could work if run as a co-op

but random people working in the kitchen? right, too little cohesion, general chaos.

[JDPriestly]

20. Seems to me that people who are not there regularly will pay

but the regulars -- who are a mainstay in coffee houses -- will work and keep the place going. The problem will be that conflicts will arise among those working. A bully will try to take over. People will get their feelings hurt. But even that can be managed by just one person being a peacemaker.

[marions ghost]

25. then why not start off with a group of regulars who

want to work (and have a clue about the job)?

Because of the Lord of the Flies aspect (the bullies rising to the top) most of the co-ops I've seen work best with a Decider (the honcho job can rotate). Peacemakers have to take too much of the emotional heat when they're struggling to keep bullies under control. Peacemaker = terrible job, usually undertaken by someone who's martyrish and will burn out, sometimes taking a few others with them. Somebody has to be the go-to guy, who calls the shots on major decisions. The group can have power to negate the decision of the Decider, if enough agree.

[JDPriestly]

53. If the peacemaker has a really great sense of humor, the job can

be much easier. It takes a really unusual personality.

[marions ghost]

57. I would say very rare

not easy to get the right mix of personalities. Successful cooperatives are very difficult in a culture where individuals are taught from birth to look out for No.1 above all. You usually get a few people who see it as an opportunity for self promotion and they dominate everything. Good leaders are not necessarily people who like to dominate, which sounds like a contradiction, but isn't really. This paradigm of a few over-bearing dominants has been true in every one of the 4 co-op situations I've been in (only one was about food). They all have a steering committee that operates more like an oligarchy than a socialist democracy--not what I'd call a true cooperative. They are some kind of hybrid that can function despite the high levels of competition within & without.

You'd have to undo the American competitive drive by teaching about teamwork, while still giving individual incentives, & maybe give everybody the Meyers-Briggs so complementary personalities could be identified. That gets into a little too much social engineering for most people's taste. But that's the only sure way to get a collective that operates more like the team on the Starship Enterprise.

People are interested in collectives now, and they tend to flourish in bad economic times because they are seen as addressing inequity & pulling together, but unless the paradigm takes into account the interpersonal issues historically associated with coops, it's a real challenge to make them work.
The "pulling together" feeling is often an illusion.

[Berry Cool]

17. I'd be a little worried that somebody would leave a chicken.

Oh well..."Tomorrow's Special: Egg Salad and Chicken Salad Sandwiches"

[NoSheep]

19. At least it would be fresh.

[myrna minx]

21. K&R n/t

[grasswire]

29. love you MORE, Panera!

Geez. I'd like a chinese chicken salad right NOW.

[Lugnut]

31. Another reason to love Panera Bread.

K&R!

[LadyHawkAZ]

32. We have a restaurant with a similar setup

right up the street from me.

http://www.oneworldeverybodyeats.com/

Seems to work fine.

I wish the best of luck to Panera, hope it works for them too.

[The_Commonist]

33. I am writing a novel that takes place in a restaurant...

...that functions exactly like that!

Dammit! Every time I have an idea, someone beats me to it.
Without fail...

[PerpetuallyDazed]

45. Interesting how that happens, isn't it? n/t

[katzenjammers]

34. That little social experiment won't last long. Most of those "self checkout" lines in stores are

history because people just use them as a handy means to steal.

[SheilaT]

47. Really?

They are going strong at my local Albertson's.

[Sherman A1]

55. Hate to break the news to you, but

Those self checkout lines are expanding in the stores in this area (STL) and the ones where they are not expanding show no sign whatsoever of going away at the 3 major grocery chains.

I have great hopes for this cafe and think it's a great effort by St. Louis Bread Company, I wish them well and will visit a nearby standard restaurant to purchase some items in order to show my support.

[wolfgangmo]

67. Where I live they have just expanded them.

Of course they have one staff member watching every 4 or 8 self check out lines to troubleshoot and monitor purchases.

Stealing is always a problem. But is it a reason to change a good idea?

[northzax]

75. and what people steal

is still less than paying someone to check you out. every store in this area (DC) that I have seen undergo a renovation has put in more and more. my local safeway has one person overseeing eight self checkouts. they can checkout eight people at a time. figure the store is saving 100 bucks+ an hour in labor and more in benefits. figure $150 minimum. as long as shrinkage is less than that, they win.

heck, my local 24 hour CVS has one person and a security guard working at 4 am. you can get in and out without actually seeing a human.

[T Wolf]

35. Checking out the responses to this on The Dark Side (I know) reveals a basic difference

between us and them.

We think it is a good idea and, even if skeptical as to the ultimate success, would like to see it succeed.

The regressives all ridiculed the idea and said that "those kind of people" would ruin this by simply taking the handout.

There really is right and wrong, good and evil in this world.

[marions ghost]

40. why does it have to be left up to individual codes of morality?

which can vary considerably. Should eating and paying for it have to be a "good vs. evil" weighty choice like this? I wish they would just lower the prices enough to attract more customers, and give whatever they consider excess profits to food banks (or whatever makes sense). I would still support it as a better way.

It seems to me that the value of this idea is symbolic. It does make people think and talk about the whole concept of sharing the wealth, and building community & haves vs. have-nots. I think it functions as a way to get attention to the issues, as PR value. And for that reason, is on the surface, a good idea.

[The Wizard]

36. Republicans will show up,

take whatever they can carry and not leave a dime, then blame the failure on minorities. It's in their DNA.

[wolfgangmo]

68. Bwahahahahahahaha.

LOL - thanks - I just got a picture in my mind of a bunch of hairless old white men with walkers (sporting NRA stickers) loading up their baskets and "making a break" for the door, while mumbling about "brown folks" and "taxes."

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

73. +Graham's Number

[Brickbat]

37. There was a cafe run by Hare Krishnas in St. Petersburg, Russia, that did this same thing, back in

the mid-90s. I don't think it's still around, but then, not much that is still around from that era, as far as new businesses go.

[tavalon]

39. Socialism in small systems can work beautifully

We've moved to a socialism model in my household of three adults and one child. We each collect a stipend and the rest is placed in common. It's worked very well for us. Basically, it allows us to circumvent societies tendency to rank individuals based on the amount of money they make and we instead value each of our inputs as equally valid.

[a la izquierda]

62. i like the way you think...

my husband and i sort of operate on this framework. we absently dump our paychecks into a bank and after bills, spend what we like regardless of who put more in.
he makes more now, but doesn't mind. and as soon as i'm done with this blasted degree, i'll out-earn him by 5times...it's okay, because by and large, what we spend is used for our greater good.

[tavalon]

63. We're a little more structured because all three of us suck at

money management so not having an unlimited extra to play with is just better.

[BrightKnight]

41. There was a 24 hour restaurant in Chicago that also fed homeless people

that could not pay. There was a shelter down the street and I have no idea how the economics worked. Somebody was probably paying them to do it.

It was popular with students because the food was good and cheap. Also, it was about the only thing open in the Loop in the middle of the night. We called it the dinner theatre because Sophie ( The kind and cranky waitress ) always managed to have some kind of a row with an indigent patron.

[Solly Mack]

42. I've run food stands that were donation only and people will pay more than actual price

simply because it is by donation and for a good cause. Someone would give a dime in donation for a plate of food, another person would come along and drop 20 bucks in the jar for the exact same amount of food...well above the actual price. You treat everyone the same...like they paid in gold.

It works.

[tilsammans]

43. It's Panera for me tomorrow!

I wish more companies' honchos would step up like this! :yourock:

[wolfgangmo]

69. Understand that this is NOT panera

But their retired, and stinking rich (and paying less in taxes than you) ex-CEO.

He is trying out something that I hope works, but realize that Panera is still corporate. It ain't a saint.

[tilsammans]

76. Yes, I understand that, but . . .

. . . how many CEOs would ever dream of doing what he's doing? Not many, I think. At least none I've known.

BTW, I did dine today at my local Panera.

[catnhatnh]

44. This is a joke and the restaurant is doomed...

Or does the past CEO of a successful corporation truly think that the general public won't be as parsimonious, deceitful, and greedy as the full run of US executives have been???

[lunasun]

46. Panera here always gives the 'day olds' to a 2nd hand store in area

which hands it out . Also another one in area gives to food pantries. Good ideas all of them.

[SheilaT]

48. I was in a Panera in Overland Park, KS

a couple of years ago, sitting chatting with a friend (we were long done eating) and it got to closing time. About ten minutes before closing the staff behind the counter started bagging up all of the breads, rolls, sweet rolls, etc that hadn't sold yet, and a few minutes later a small van from a local food pantry for the needy showed up and received all of those items. I was impressed. It was obviously a regular thing.

That's the only time I've been in a Panera at closing, so I don't know if what happened was peculiar to that particular location, or a company policy. Hearing about this one in St. Louis, I suspect there's a strong company policy at work.

Love Panera. Wish we had one in Santa Fe.

[lakerboy]

49. Same thing

It happens about like that in Kalamazoo, too. Must be a company thing.

[defendandprotect]

52. Nice idea . . . better than a bread line, I think---!?

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JNelson6563]

58. I hope they fare better there than they would here.

I live in a small city where tourism is #1. During tourist season I must hear "jokes" about 50 times a day about free samples. Like locusts they are. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Whadayagot for free?????

Sorry but I've been in it too long to believe that for one moment this system would work. Hope I'm proven wrong.

Julie

[wolfgangmo]

70. People act very different on vacation.

Much like a mild mannered nerd in person acts like Rambo online. If the store were local and helped a visible local charity then it could work.

I can't tell you the number of asshats I've seen while on vacation. I wonder if it is particularily prevelant among the US - thus the ugly american thing.

[fasttense]

59. Unfortunately there was a study done I think I read it in Freakonomics, the book.

There was a guy who sold bagels in office coffee lounges. He would set the bagels out with a can and a sign saying $1.00. At first people would drop in a dollar but if they were alone, they were less likely to pay. During the Christmas season they were even less likely to pay.

I don't remember the final results, I think the guy stopped selling them that way.

[skipos]

61. I'd like to know WHERE it is located in St. Louis. Anyone know? nt

[MilesColtrane]

64. If bread was available as a download, nobody would donate.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

74. Well, it actually IS.

http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=14532&song=IF

[MilesColtrane]

77. Why, I oughta...

[Jefferson23]

71. I'm impressed! 5 Stars for you Shaich :)