Panera once operated 6 pay-what-you-can stores. Now the last one is closing.

Quote:Panera founder Ron Shaich said he had the idea for Panera Cares after seeing an NBC special about a Denver cafe called SAME — short for “So All May Eat” — that lets customers pay suggested prices for food. “I fundamentally believed that there were enough good people in the world that they would do the right thing,” Shaich said, adding that he “particularly loved torturing the cynics” who said there was “no way” his idea would work. “Our whole idea here was not simply to create another homeless shelter or another soup kitchen. It was actually to have a real meal, and a real meal with dignity.”

The article points out several problems: employee's profiling customers, customers complaining about other customers, employees having to deal with problems for which they're not trained, and, of course, financial instability. The last paragraph sums up the failure better than I believe the author actually knows:

Quote:Despite Shaich’s best intentions, Panera Cares was a temporary solution to the symptoms — not the causes — of poverty and inequality.

Regarding the financial instability the bolded statement above by Panera's founder makes me wonder...

If he is so dedicated to "real meals with dignity" and he thinks people should "do the right thing" then I have to wonder, why did he shut down the program? After all, doesn't he considered himself to be one of those good people who would pay more for meals so that others less fortunate may eat?

In other words, suffering through business losses would be his paying more for each meal so others may eat.

Or did he think doing the right thing only applies to the common guy on the street?

(02-17-2020 10:03 AM)umbluegray Wrote:  Panera once operated 6 pay-what-you-can stores. Now the last one is closing.

Quote:Panera founder Ron Shaich said he had the idea for Panera Cares after seeing an NBC special about a Denver cafe called SAME — short for “So All May Eat” — that lets customers pay suggested prices for food. “I fundamentally believed that there were enough good people in the world that they would do the right thing,” Shaich said, adding that he “particularly loved torturing the cynics” who said there was “no way” his idea would work. “Our whole idea here was not simply to create another homeless shelter or another soup kitchen. It was actually to have a real meal, and a real meal with dignity.”

The article points out several problems: employee's profiling customers, customers complaining about other customers, employees having to deal with problems for which they're not trained, and, of course, financial instability. The last paragraph sums up the failure better than I believe the author actually knows:

Quote:Despite Shaich’s best intentions, Panera Cares was a temporary solution to the symptoms — not the causes — of poverty and inequality.

Regarding the financial instability the bolded statement above by Panera's founder makes me wonder...

If he is so dedicated to "real meals with dignity" and he thinks people should "do the right thing" then I have to wonder, why did he shut down the program? After all, doesn't he considered himself to be one of those good people who would pay more for meals so that others less fortunate may eat?

In other words, suffering through business losses would be his paying more for each meal so others may eat.

Or did he think doing the right thing only applies to the common guy on the street?

This is the problem with socialism.. It's great until it affects the socialists bottom line.

I like Panera, but honestly think it is over priced. If I could pay what I think is fair, it would probably be $3-5 less a meal.

20 bucks for soup and half a sammich served by an it with green hair, a bone in the nose, and a fishhook in the eyebrow.

Nah bro, I'm moan pass.

(02-17-2020 10:25 AM)Jugnaut Wrote:  I like Panera, but honestly think it is over priced. If I could pay what I think is fair, it would probably be $3-5 less a meal.

Definitely overpriced. Except for buying a bagel, the entire place makes no sense to me. You are going to need a $20 bill to pay for a grilled cheese sandwich, a cup of soup and a beverage. That's outrageous. I make the same meal at home for basically for very little cost. That is why I eat GC and soup at home.