Au Bon Pain facts for kids
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Au Bon Pain, Harvard Square, 2005
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Trade name
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Au Bon Pain |
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Fast-casual restaurant, bakery, and café |
| Founded | 1976 in Boston |
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United States
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Number of locations
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171 (2021) |
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Area served
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| Owner | AMPEX Brands |
Au Bon Pain (which means "at the good bread" in French) is a popular American restaurant chain. It's known for being a fast casual restaurant, a bakery, and a café all in one!
The company's main office is in Richardson, Texas. Au Bon Pain has about 175 locations. You can find them in the United States, Thailand, and Taiwan. Today, the company is owned by AMPEX Brands.
Au Bon Pain sells many yummy baked goods. These include fresh bread, pastries, croissants, and bagels. They also offer hot drinks like tea, coffee, and espresso. For breakfast, you can grab egg sandwiches. For lunch, they have soups, salads, and sandwiches. The company also provides catering services for events.
Most Au Bon Pain restaurants are on the East Coast of the United States. However, you can find franchise locations in 17 different states across the country.
Contents
How Au Bon Pain Started
Au Bon Pain began in 1976 in Boston. A French company called Pavailler, which made baking ovens, started it. They wanted to show off how great their ovens were!
The first store was in Faneuil Hall. It sold delicious croissants, pastries, and bread. French bakers made all these treats. In 1977, more stores opened in New Jersey and New York City.
New Owners and Growth
In 1978, a person named Louis I. Kane bought Au Bon Pain. He really liked the smell of their baked goods! He changed the business to focus on selling food, not ovens.
By 1980, Au Bon Pain was making over $1 million in sales. But it was still losing money. In 1981, the company was in trouble. Ronald M. Shaich and his father bought a big part of the company.
In 1991, Au Bon Pain became a public company. This meant people could buy shares of the company's stock.
Expanding the Business
In 1993, Au Bon Pain bought another company called Saint Louis Bread Company. This company later became famous as Panera Bread. Au Bon Pain also bought some bakery locations from another company, Warburtons. They turned these into Au Bon Pain stores.
In 1996, the company decided to make its stores look better. They planned to update the inside of all their locations.
Changes and Challenges
Over the years, Au Bon Pain changed owners a few times. In 1999, the company that owned Au Bon Pain (which later became Panera Bread) sold the Au Bon Pain part of the business.
In 2000, Au Bon Pain made a deal to open its first stores in Taipei, Taiwan.
A sad event happened in 2001. Au Bon Pain had a store in the World Trade Center in New York. This store was destroyed during the September 11 attacks.
In 2005, the people who managed Au Bon Pain bought most of the company. Then, in 2008, a company called LNK Partners bought a big share.
Modernizing and New Leadership
In 2011, all Au Bon Pain locations got a big makeover. They were completely remodeled to look fresh and new.
By 2012, Au Bon Pain had grown to over 200 locations. This was the most stores they ever had!
In 2013, the company made an important promise. They said that by 2017, they would only use free-range eggs in their food. This means the chickens that laid the eggs could roam freely.
In 2014, Au Bon Pain was recognized as one of the best businesses in Massachusetts led by a woman, Sue Morelli.
In 2017, Panera Bread bought Au Bon Pain again. It was like the two companies came back together after splitting up years before.
Recent Times
In 2019, the last Au Bon Pain store in Cambridge, Massachusetts closed. This was a big change because the company had been in that city for over 35 years.
In 2021, AMPEX Brands bought Au Bon Pain from Panera Bread. This deal helped keep the Au Bon Pain brand going. AMPEX Brands also moved the company's main office to Texas.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused many stores to close. This was because fewer people were going out in cities. But under the new owners, new Au Bon Pain locations started opening again. One of the first new stores opened in a Macy's in Queens Center Mall.
In 2024, the very last Au Bon Pain location in Boston closed. It was in the South Station train terminal.
See also
- List of coffeehouse chains
- List of bakery cafés
