I hardly ever post about my consumer experiences but I feel I must today, as it's tied into the sagging economy.
When Panera first opened locations around us we frequented them often for lunch. The soups and salads were great, and the lemonades were good, and all was fresh and pretty healthy. A couple years later, we noticed that things were starting to shrink. The drink cups shrunk, the sandwiches were no longer piled high, the sandwich breads were smaller, and so on. We accepted this as part of a business trimming costs to keep competitive in business, but we filed it away in case things continued to go downhill.
Eventually the large bread piece that came with the meals became our choice: small apple, small bread chunk, or chips. I appreciated the apple choice, so we went with it. We noticed the prices creeping up but figured that we needed to get out from time to time, so we accepted it.
Last year when we were laid off, we could no longer hit our regular Panera for lunch, but R got a new job near another one. We meet there once in a great while, to see each other during the day and have something pretty decent for lunch.
Today I met my husband at his local Panera. We both got lemonades and the pick two. I got soup and the cafe salad, and R got soup and a half sandwich. I was asked if I wanted whole grain or regular/sourdough (some basic one, I forget) bread with mine, and I said "Uh ..." (wondering what happened to my apple choice) "Whole grain." And then I gathered myself and said, "What happened to the apple?" And the cashier said I had to ask specifically now for it, as costs are higher and they won't offer it right up any longer.
The whole grain piece with my soup was literally three inches long, hardly bread at all. I didn't even bother trying to get the apple. The salad is now in this crescent-shaped dish that barely contains the salad, and much of it was red onion and cucumber. Our total was more than $18.
When Panera first opened locations around us we frequented them often for lunch. The soups and salads were great, and the lemonades were good, and all was fresh and pretty healthy. A couple years later, we noticed that things were starting to shrink. The drink cups shrunk, the sandwiches were no longer piled high, the sandwich breads were smaller, and so on. We accepted this as part of a business trimming costs to keep competitive in business, but we filed it away in case things continued to go downhill.
Eventually the large bread piece that came with the meals became our choice: small apple, small bread chunk, or chips. I appreciated the apple choice, so we went with it. We noticed the prices creeping up but figured that we needed to get out from time to time, so we accepted it.
Last year when we were laid off, we could no longer hit our regular Panera for lunch, but R got a new job near another one. We meet there once in a great while, to see each other during the day and have something pretty decent for lunch.
Today I met my husband at his local Panera. We both got lemonades and the pick two. I got soup and the cafe salad, and R got soup and a half sandwich. I was asked if I wanted whole grain or regular/sourdough (some basic one, I forget) bread with mine, and I said "Uh ..." (wondering what happened to my apple choice) "Whole grain." And then I gathered myself and said, "What happened to the apple?" And the cashier said I had to ask specifically now for it, as costs are higher and they won't offer it right up any longer.
The whole grain piece with my soup was literally three inches long, hardly bread at all. I didn't even bother trying to get the apple. The salad is now in this crescent-shaped dish that barely contains the salad, and much of it was red onion and cucumber. Our total was more than $18.
R said he's filling out their survey tonight and telling them what we think. We've ridden them through their downsizing, and we completely appreciate that times are tight, but to make the customer ask for the apple instead of offering it when it's still sitting back there behind the counter is kinda douchy, pardon my French. For that price I can't see continuing to go there. From now on we'll be packing a homemade picnic lunch and heading to the park. With a big juicy apple in the basket.
5 Comments:
At Thu Apr 17, 06:15:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
My husband and I have spent some quality freelance time surfing the free wireless at various Paneras (Massachusetts, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, California), especially as we moved cross-country from Ohio to Los Angeles. Even after we moved, we would go there to work often enough (and eat lunch and sometimes dinner and drink coffee) that our parents started sending Panera gift cards on holidays and birthdays. But after we settled into our LA apartment, got the wireless hooked up, and bought a Keurig 1-cup coffee brewer, we found ourselves staying home more and more.
Competition to get a table at Panera was reasonable at the start, but became more and more rabid as time went on and we got tired of scrounging for a table near an outlet. This was a particular hardship at the Studio City location, but also difficult in Santa Monica. The Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks locations were both fine (but they're a bit far away).
At one point, the Panera in Studio City covered 50% of their outlets to reduce the number of computer users, limiting people to their battery's length for their stay. My laptop battery is old and constantly at zero, so that also factored into our staying at home and away from Panera. But mostly it was the idea that the computer users were not as welcome anymore.
I understand that their business practices need to serve their business plan, but my business practices need to serve mine. So I've not been there in a while. That's sad about the shrinking portions and hidden apples.
I do miss the bustle a bit, but I've instead switched to the local public library when I need my people fix. They have free wireless and the library is only a few blocks from my place, where I can eat my quick, cheap, homemade lunch.
At Thu Apr 17, 07:19:00 PM,
Amy said…
Thanks for the comment and for the details on the outlet covers. That's so interesting! I see only a couple people sitting at Panera with laptops around here (even though we're right outside NYC). The library is a great idea for getting out. Once I get a laptop and can be mobile with my freelancing ...
Thinking about Panera and laptops ... the second-to-last time my husband and I were at a Panera (a local one but not the one I discuss in my post), we sat next to a middle-aged Asian man who was eating while working on his laptop and talking on his cell. On the bench seat next to him was a large binder, each page a plastic sheet with pockets much like a baseball card holder, but instead of cards there were bunches of "things" in the plastic, making the binder very fat. I tried to steal glances at the open pages, but I could not figure out what the things were. They looked to me like small piles of mushrooms or herbs, rounded and in earthy colors. Nothing I could recognize, but definitely like a sample book.
Once my husband and I got outside, I said, "What were those?" and he said, "I was going to ask you the same thing!" I wish I had had the nerve to ask that guy!!!
At Thu Apr 17, 09:25:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Wow. That is a cool Panera sighting. I wonder what he was selling... An intriguing visual, in any case.
One time while we were there, a homeless woman quietly but directly walked to my table in the middle of the restaurant with great purpose in her step. I looked up, and she asked me (not looking at my husband at all) if I could help her. I asked her, "With what?" And she said she was in need of groceries.
It was so striking, the way she walked past a whole restaurant teeming with people and singled me out. I always wondered why she selected me.
I didn't carry cash at that time, but I had a debit card and I had just been paid on time (miraculously!) for a big project. So I walked her to the grocery next door and bought her what she picked out. It was a surreal experience, and I still think about her once in a while.
At Fri Apr 18, 05:10:00 PM,
Amy said…
I can see why you would reflect on that from time to time. You must have a nice countenance for her to come straight to you. :) That was a caring gesture.
The only time recently that a stranger asked something of me was at an ATM at my bank. An elderly man shoved his card in my hand and said he forgot his glasses at home, so he told me his password and said he needed $60. I withdrew it for him, wondering if I should mention that not everyone might be as honest as me at an ATM, but I just smiled and he thanked me. I wish everyone could trust everyone. Of course, you used your own funds, so I was helpful but not asked to be that generous. :)
You will have to tell me sometime how you find LA. I've never been, and I'm interested in someone's view who moved there from farther east.
At Fri Apr 18, 07:06:00 PM,
Schizohedron said…
For the first time I can recall, I'm hearing (profoundly irritating) ads on the radio for Panera Bread. Could this be connected to the shrinking portions? I don't remember hearing how the company's been doing recently. The costs of flour surely has hit them.
For a while, I wondered if they'd been succeeding themselves into a corner. A mall-based location in our area immediately began to strain at its seams with the foot traffic after opening, and the one you visited is impenetrable on Fridays for lunch.
I too have memories of the product being a better bargain and of higher quality. I've shied away from the sandwiches; all of them tend to include one ingredient I'd just pick off. I had the bread bowl of cream of broccoli soup a couple of months ago; it lay in my stomach like a greasy dumbbell. I don't have big plans to return there anytime soon.
But one area where I feel they've always failed is in their bagels. My managing editor used to bring their bagels to office birthday or (recently) bon voyage parties. This saddened me, so one day I took the initiative and brought a dozen real, Tri-State Area bagels from a local shop into the office. She was astounded at their crisp skins, buxom with dough. That's what she gets for mistaking Panera's baked tricycle wheels for bagels.
Julie, the three wonderful words "quick, cheap, and homemade" describe a good 90% of my lunches each pay period. (Amy, R tends to be my companion for the other 10%! Our typical destination — local Italian/pizza place — might be a better choice the next time you spin in that direction.)
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