Posted on 06/20/2012 1:57:40 PM PDT by lex33
Panera is turning one of its first Chicago stores over to the community. The store at 616 W. Diversey Pkwy. is converting to a pay-what-you-can model Thursday with only suggested prices and donation boxes. This is the St. Louis-based company's fourth "Panera Cares Community Cafe" and its first in Chicago. In an interview, founder and co-CEO Ron Shaich said the Lakeview location has particular significance for him because he wrote the company's mission statement there. "Chicago is a very important market for us," Shaich said, adding that the company has more than 100 locations in the area, and co-CEO William Moreton lives in Hinsdale. "We've had a lot of success here." He added that the Lakeview location is ideal for a community store because there are "million-dollar townhomes and people on the street," meaning there are customers who can help support the cafe and those who can benefit from a free meal. "When you walk in, it's the full Panera experience," Shaich said. "When you go into a soup kitchen, the energy is so negative and the food is institutional and the experience is institutional." He said the idea for the community model was to "create an experience," that could "lift people up" and provide some dignity for those who can't afford to pay. To make the concept work, consumers who have extra money are asked to donate it. Those who are short can pay less, and those who can't pay anything can volunteer for an hour to eat free. Shaich said the idea has worked because Panera turns the stores over to the Panera Bread Foundation, a tax-exempt organization that runs day-to-day operations. This frees the publicly traded restaurant company of its obligation to run a profitable business.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I predict that’ll be a money loser.
Stupid.
In Chicago? HA-hahahaha... Good luck. Having flashbacks of that woman from a few years ago, now yelling “Whoooohoooo, where’s my free Obama bread?”.
It will be fun to see how long this lasts.
No business has a legal obligation to make a profit, that's just nonsense. It just means the CEO isnt held accountable for the inevitable losses. However more importantly here, running tax-exempt frees the stores from the crushing burden of taxes, which might just provide sufficient margin to make it possible to survive in this crazy business model.
I’ll bet folks can’t wait to eat at a place that has homeless people volunteering in the back.
Preparing food, washing dishes, no showers in days, a hair on your plate...
Ummmm, I’m hungry already.
Kudos to those who choose to help others in this way.
The problem arises when people try to force others to do so.
Kudos to those who choose to help others in this way.
The problem arises when people try to force others to do so.
I would predict failure, but this will be far too important to the libtards for them to allow it to fail. There will be backdoor support by wealthy liberals so that they can later all proclaim it a perfect example of how capitalism now can be relegated to the ash-heap of history—the selflessness of socialism/communism has been proven to work. /gag . . . /rolleyes
I really enjoyed Panera. It’s sad to see them putting themsleves out of business....
Homies goan clean ‘em right out ‘n’ s**t.
has more of a ring to it.
I think this policy could work out well for the IRS too. (Just dreaming ... )
No kidding!
Probably lots of homeless volunteers to man the cash register. LOL.
>> that could “lift people up” and provide some dignity for those who can’t afford to pay. <<
The lack of shame is what is killing the US work ethic. If you can;t afford to pay it means you made bad life decisions (in 99.9% of the cases) — you SHOULD feel shame. That shame should motivate you to get yourself straightened out and productive.
Just like studies have shown that when unemployment benefits run out, amazingly people get jobs shortly afterwards. Wow, who’d a thunk it????
The same applies to kids out of wedlock — there is a direct correlation between the removal of shame and the incidents of bastards. And all studies show over and over that kids without a normal mom and dad are societal problems in many, many ways.
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