Einstein Bros. Bagels is an American chain of
bagel
A bagel (; ; also spelled beigel) is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. Bagels are traditionally made from yeasted wheat dough that is shaped by hand into a torus or ring, briefly boiled in water, and then baked. ...
cafes. In the 1990s, the company bought out several retail bagel chains from regions around the US which lacked bagel traditions. After filing for bankruptcy in 2000, the company was bought out by New World Coffee. It became part of Panera Brands in August 2021.
History
Einstein Bros. was created by the chain restaurant corporation Boston Chicken (now
Boston Market
Boston Market Corporation, known as Boston Chicken until 1995, is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Newtown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Newtown Township, Pennsylvania. Since 2020, it has been owned by Engage Bra ...
) in 1995, as a way to market breakfast foods. The chain is now owned by Panera Brands.
Boston Chicken, Inc. originally formed the Einstein and Noah Bagel Corporation as Progressive Bagel Concepts, Incorporated (PBCI) in March 1995, when it purchased four retail bagel chains, all located in regions of the United States that did not have longstanding bagel traditions. These companies included
Offerdahl's Bagel Gourmet (
Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...
), Bagel & Bagel (
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
), Baltimore Bagel (
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
), and Brackman Brothers, Incorporated (
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
). Each found that their stores were similar in that they offered both original and new bagel flavors in wealthy neighborhoods where the customers had relatively little previous exposure to bagels.
Noah's Bagels was founded in 1989 by Noah Alper on College Avenue in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
. In 1996, the chain of 38 stores was sold to Einstein Bros. for $100 million.
Acquisition by New World Coffee
New World Coffee was founded in the early 1990s by Ramin Kamfar, an investment banker who left his finance career to open a coffee shop.
It bought Manhattan Bagel out of bankruptcy in 1998. The combined company purchased Chesapeake Bagel Bakery in 1999 when that chain had 89 stores, giving Manhattan approximately 350 locations.
In 2000, Einstein Bros. filed for bankruptcy, having loaned too much money to franchisees.
After it declared bankruptcy, New World Coffee, which had earlier attempted an unsuccessful
hostile takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast t ...
, bought the company out of bankruptcy for $190 million.
Other acquisitions and mergers
In 2014, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group was acquired by
JAB Holding Company
JAB Holding Company S.à r.l. (JAB or Joh. A. Benckiser) is a German conglomerate, headquartered in Luxembourg, that includes investments in companies operating in the areas of consumer goods, coffee, luxury fashion, animal health, and fast food, ...
and
BDT Capital Partners
BDT & MSD Partners is an American merchant bank that is co-headquartered in Chicago and New York City. The firm has both an advisory platform and an investment platform.
History
In January 2023, BDT & MSD was formed from the merger of BDT & Co ...
.
On August 5, 2021, Einstein Bros. announced that it had merged with
Panera Bread
Panera Bread is an American multinational chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Fenton, Missouri. The chain operates as Saint Louis ...
and
Caribou Coffee
Caribou Coffee Company is an American coffee company and coffeehouse chain. It was founded in Edina, Minnesota, in 1992. As of September 2023, the company operates over 750 locations worldwide. It is headquartered in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
...
to form Panera Brands.
See also
*
List of bakery cafés
This is a list of notable bakeries. A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Portal bar, Colorado, Companies, Food
Restaurants in Colorado
Bagel companies
Bakery cafés
Fast casual restaurants
Fast-food chains of the United States
Fast-food franchises
Companies based in Lakewood, Colorado
Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
Restaurants established in 1995
1995 establishments in Colorado
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2000
2014 mergers and acquisitions
American companies established in 1995