What Lessons Are Apparent From The Failure Of The Last Panera Cares Restaurant?

[wacojoe]

https://outline.com/zwnRFc

Panera Resaurants opened several restaurants 10 years ago based on a premise of pay-what-you-can and business model that against a “suggested price” 60 percent of patrons would need to fork over the full price, about 20 percent would have to offer more money, and another 20 percent could leave less than the suggested price, or even pay nothing to be viable. The last one failed this week and was closed.

The actual experience of the owners versus the 60/20/20 model is unknown, but we can make some guesses. Do you have an idea what larger lessons this experiment exposes?

[Truckman]

This reminds me of my favorite speed shop catalog when I was kid...Honest Charley once had a paragraph about himself in his catalog that stated he let people make their own change in a basket at his restaurant...The Wikipedia version has a slightly different version...I miss the humor I used to find in hisself's catalogs......Ben

[Dave Grubb]

I agree with the reason put forth in the article is correct---it was a bad model and likely poorly understood by the very people that needed to embrace it to make it viable.

Just on a personal basis, I would rather donate to a food kitchen than to Panera. That is simply driven by value. Dropping an extra $10 at Panera's might provide a modest lunch for (at cost) 2. At my favorite food kitchen that number goes to about 5 for the same number of people. I get the claim of self esteem offered by dinning at Panera's versus a food kitchen---but one can't survive on self esteem.

[Billy_Rightwing]

I don't eat much anymore so don't care. We don't even go our much anymore because have to pack half of it home.

[mgrist]

https://outline.com/zwnRFc

Panera Resaurants opened several restaurants 10 years ago based on a premise of pay-what-you-can and business model that against a “suggested price” 60 percent of patrons would need to fork over the full price, about 20 percent would have to offer more money, and another 20 percent could leave less than the suggested price, or even pay nothing to be viable. The last one failed this week and was closed.

The actual experience of the owners versus the 60/20/20 model is unknown, but we can make some guesses. Do you have an idea what larger lessons this experiment exposes?

I'll go with people are getting meaner and stingier and think they are better than everybody else. People these days are more likely to take change out of the basket then to make change out of it, re Bens example. Their more likely to think that they are doing enough already, the thought counts in their eyes, we owe them.

[wacojoe]

https://pjmedia.com/trending/panera-...ils-miserably/

Any time someone gets something for nothing someone else must work for free.

[mgrist]

“In many ways, this whole experiment is ultimately a test of humanity,”

What I saw was someone trying to prove that people are basically good and honest and he was going to prove it!! Unfortunately, the more people have the more they plan on keeping it and screw everyone else. That's been my experience in life, hopefully not everybodys. I'm a pessimist and I've got a hundred holes in my back by constantly trying to prove myself wrong. "Mr. Panera" has a hole in his back now.