Ron Shaich compares the unit economics of St. Louis Bread Company's suburban locations to Au Bon Pain's urban stores in the 1990s.
Opinion
Shaich: Public markets force CEOs into short-term cost-cutting over transformative bets
“There's a pervasive sense of short-termism that has invaded our markets. The reality is, when you have such short-term pressure on our CEOs, they react. And what that ends up meaning is cost-cutting. And they avoid the kind of transformative events that drove …”
Assertion Partly supported
Shaich: Au Bon Pain was the first example of fast casual dining
“And for people who were working in white collar jobs increasingly in urban settings, this was the first example of what we later came to call fast casual. This was an attempt to do something that was better But in a quick service mode.”
Insight
Shaich: Public market short-termism forces CEOs into cost-cutting over transformative bets
“There's a pervasive sense of short-termism that has invaded our markets. The reality is, when you have such short-term pressure on our CEOs, they react. And what that ends up meaning is cost-cutting. And they avoid the kind of transformative events that drove …”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Shaich won a board battle with two votes against VCs' three
“It was a huge boardroom struggle, because I had two votes, our venture capitalists had three, and all of them had invested in Au Bon Pain.”
Assertion Supported
Shaich: Panera tripled its stock price during the Great Recession
“We said this is the time to build competitive advantage, and ultimately we tripled the stock through the recession.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Shaich: Au Bon Pain pioneered the fast-casual restaurant category
“What the bakery cafe was an alternative between down and dirty fast food. And fine dining. And for people who were working in white collar jobs increasingly in urban settings, this was the first example of what we later came to call fast casual.”