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Dearborn’s Panera Bread on a Roll

With the Mercury and the Little Café all but a distant memory on the stretch of Michigan between Military and Brady, Panera Bread at the corner of Howard has fast become the new neighborhood gathering place.

Panera Bread

Dearborn's Panera Bread at Michigan and Howard has fast become the new neighborhood gathering place.

While pricier than the two closed homegrown establishments, we’d say that Panera offers some high quality food, good coffee and free Wi-Fi. And that appears to be the secret to its success. We miss being able to get a good omelet, hash browns and toast from the home-owned restaurants in West Dearborn but we are glad to at least have a place to go.

An article in the October issue of Fast Company magazine says that that the St. Louis-based Panera is opening a new bakery-café every five days. Sales were up 16.2 percent in 2008 and profits in the first half of this year were up 33 percent, according to the article.

Some other excerpts from the article:

“Panera is proof that, in suburbia, there’s a hunger for real food — unfussy ingredients moved from farm to plate quickly and affordably. And the company has combined that menu with an unpretentious atmosphere — there’s no table service, but also no time limit. As a result, it has become as much community gathering space as a bustling lunch spot . . .

“ . . . Panera’s target audience is more Food Network than fast food. “We hit a chord with people who understand and respond to food, but we also open a door for people who are on the verge of that,” says chief concept officer Scott Davis. “We run an idea through the Panera filter and give it that twist that takes a flavor profile closer to what you’d find in a bistro than a fast-food joint . . .”

“. . . the $4.3 billion bakery-café segment is a growth sector, and even with more than 1,300 locations, Panera still has plenty of room to grow. As the dominant player in the market — add up the sales for the next four biggest bakery-café chains, including Einstein Bros. Bagels and Corner Bakery Cafe, and they’d still have less than half of Panera’s sales — it’s in the best position to capitalize on the potential of bakery-cafés in the broader restaurant business. That means there’s plenty for Panera to eat up — including its competitors’ lunch.”

The full article can be found here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 9:27 am and is filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • Amer Zahr

    This is why I sometimes feel your blog is biased against Hakim Fakhoury.

    You write many articles that report on some negative or unfortunate happenings in Hakim’s buildings, whether it be vacancies, the Caliente lawsuit, etc. All these postings by you are fully accurate, and you make a point, accurately, to always point out that these buildings are owned by Hakim Fakhoury.

    When you write an article about a success story in West Dearborn, as you did above, you make no mention at all about Hakim owning that building. You know very well that he owns that building, so why omit that fact when you’re always to quick to include when casting his buildings in a negative light. Maybe you think that’s editorial discretion… it might be, but it’s also a display of you bias.

    A couple other things should be made clear. Hakim had to fight for that building, fight for the specifications that would allow him to secure a client like Panera, and then fight to get Panera without any help from the city. Tenants like Panera are what we need to anchor retail and business down here. These types of tenants have a lot of money to spend, and need a city administration that will help them. When we get big chain/corporate tenants down here, it creates a vibrant atmosphere, and there will still be a lot of space for small privately-owned businesses to open and thrive.

    Said, please be consistent in including important facts in ALL your posts, not just selectively.

  • Bob

    Panera is nice, although the food could be a little cheaper. There’s usually a pile of seniors there in the morning, pretty much yelling about anything and everything.

    But I gotta say, sitting in Panera, and glancing across the street at the awful looking property is the worst. Who owns that building?

  • Said Deep

    Amer: thank you for you comment.

    Actually, this site has been very consistent with Mr. Hakim Fakhoury.

    Here are three very recent examples:

    •We made no mention of him in the story about Ciao and why he is fighting with his tenant and their insurance company, which has kept the business closed eight months after a fire. We said this: “Challenges apparently remain over whose insurance company should cover damages to the building, the restaurant owner or the building landlord.”
    http://www.deepsaidwhat.com/2009/10/28/nightclub-martini-bar-headto-west-dearborn/

    •We made no mention of Fakhoury in the story about his tenant, Village Picture Frame & Art Gallery, moving to a new location that offered owner Tom Clark half the rent he was paying in Mr. Fakhoury’s building. We said this: “In his new store, Clark says he is paying about half the rent of his former location and with better visibility.”
    http://www.deepsaidwhat.com/2009/10/25/dearborns-village-picture-frame-art-gallery-moving-into-west-village-commons/

    •We made no mention of Fakhoury in a story that was about Panera Bread in Fast Company magazine.
    http://www.deepsaidwhat.com/2009/11/07/dearborns-panera-bread-on-a-roll/

    I would say we are three for three in consistency here.

    While we don’t do PR for Mr. Fakhoury (that’s your job), we will be happy to mention Mr. Fakhoury in every article that involves his buildings and tenants going forward.

  • Amer Zahr

    Said,

    Thanks for publishing my comment finally. Also, you don’t have to be sarcastic, you know full well I am a friend of Mr. Fakhoury’s and not his PR rep. Sarcasm doesn’t really add to the debate.

    Anyway, my opinions do not come from thin air. Here i what I was referring to:

    You wrote:
    “The definition of ‘soon’ has been a rather nebulous one at Norm Newman’s vacant Inca and Pier 1 building where a sign has been promising a “redevelopment” since February. Same is true of the Fatburger sign promising “coming soon” on Hakim Fakhoury’s building at Military and Michigan.”
    In your post, “Blockbuster Store in Dearborn Closing; Sign says New Restaurant/Lounge Coming ‘Soon’ on Michigan Ave.”, Nov. 1, 2009.

    Basically, I’m saying if Hakim’s name appears accurately in that posting, it belongs in this one about Panera, which is much more directly about one of Hakim’s projects than the article I referred to above.

    Also, who is the “we” you always refer to? Aren’t you the only writer on this site? Or am I mistaken?

  • cloe

    Amer – When one landlord owns as many condemned buildings as he does, it does have a tendency to draw attention. His older ones are condemned and were up for foreclosure with the state, and his new ones will stand empty because of the high rents. I don’t think he is being picked on. I think the facts are just being stated.

  • Donna Hay

    Amer – Are these building condemned or not?

  • JaDe

    I would say from a journalistic point of view, the example you cite would be accurate so as to establish different owners of different buildings, which in my eyes favor Hakim favorably for not owning both buildings.

  • cloe

    Donna – if you go to the Press and Guide archives, you will see an article about Mr. Fakhoury with a photo of him talking about his schedule for the demo of these buildings. It was about 1 1/2 years ago. I saved it when I read it because I wanted to see how long it would really take.

    When the list of buildings in foreclosure came out a little later at least 7 of the buildings in the district were on it. You can check the Detroit News Archives. His name and various partners were on all of them. It seems that he has many business names.

    If all of this information is wrong, he should state what the truth is and clear up the accusations once and for all.

  • Donna Hay

    Cloe, thanks for the info.

    Amer, do you know anything about these buildings or better yet how about an answer from Hakim Fakhoury.

  • Amer Zahr

    I will try to answer as much as I can.

    First, none of Hakim’s buildings are or ever have been condemned as long as he has owned them.

    As far as the scheduling of demolishing the buildings goes… While Hakim has plans for when these things happen, at the end of the day, it is up to the city. The story of Hakim buying buildings is complicated, but in a nutshell, it goes like this. Hakim, in consultation with the city, buys many buildings. He has to buy a certain number of buildings in order to be considered a “Preferred Developer.” With this status, he can get grants, etc. So he bought the buildings, then city decided to put its hands in its pockets and put a halt to the projects Hakim had already gotten permission for. The projects are titled Dearborn Village North and Dearborn Village South, and their details are on file with the city.

    So this puts Hakim in a bad situation. The plans is that the buildings get demolished in accordance with the projects he wants to go forward with. He had initial go-aheads from the city (which have since evaporated), and he has spent tens of thousands of dollars in legal and application fees to secure grants for these projects (Despite some ramblings, he has not received any of these grant monies; he only gets it when his projects move forward). The reason these buildings sit vacant is because if Hakim redevelops them, he then loses any chance of moving forward on the larger projects he initially bought the buildings for.

    So the question should be then directed to the city: Why does the city drag its feet and not aid Hakim in moving forward on these projects, effectively keeping him in a harmful and very expensive limbo?

  • cloe

    I’m not sure if I remember this correctly. Maybe, someone out there can either confirm or correct.

    Two years ago, at the December Council meeting, he asked for an extension of Preferred Develop status, and I think that he did the same at last December’s meeting. I can’t remember all of the details as to why the Council was having a problem with it. Can any of you remember?

    Whatever the holdup, get it cleared up one way or the other, and let’s get Dearborn moving again.

  • Donna Hay

    Amer, thank you so much for your reply and clarification. Wouldn’t we all love to have an answer to why the city is dragging its feet but apparently they either don’t think they are or don’t want to enter into a discussion on this matter. At the rate DWD is going who will be left to turn off the lights.

  • Amer Zahr

    I would propose once again, as I have many times, to have a town hall meeting on these issues. I’m sure Hakim would come and be candid. Some posters on this forum have met with him before and now he is willing to do so.

    Or perhaps Said could interview him and post the video of the interview as he has done with other public figures in the past.

  • cloe

    What a great idea.

    I would love to see a town hall meeting on the subject with officials from the City. That way, all the information would be out there and it wouldn’t be a he-said, they said. Interviewing one side at a time doesn’t work. Why don’t you set it up and let us know when it is going to happen so that we all can be there and get the true facts.

    The truth would be so much better than all of the rumors. Don’t you think?

  • Amer Zahr

    I highly doubt that city officials would come to such a meeting. I hope they would prove me wrong. And I have neither the history or influence to get them to come. Said Deep does. I would encourage Said to organize something like that, in the interests of the community, and as an extension of this blog. Don’t you all agree?

    From my personal conversations, what I can guarantee is that Hakim Fakhoury would welcome the opportunity to be at such a meeting and take any questions and be as open as he can.

  • Donna Hay

    Amer, the mayor has already said that a meeting is not needed. I guess he is not willing to let the taxpayers have a say in this matter at all.

  • cloe

    Donna – when the mayor say that? Was it recently? I hadn’t heard anything.

    If someone from the City won’t come, maybe Mr. Deep or Mr. Fakhoury, could arrange to be put on the Council meeting agenda and we could hear about it there. The City couldn’t say no. It is a public meeting. Mr. Fakhoury could also come and counter, if necessary, what the city says. It would probably be better there because it would be televised and more people could see it.

    All of these rumors could be put to rest and the development of the area could, finally, go ahead.

  • Donna Hay

    Cloe – this was over a year ago when we tried to organize a meeting.

    I would be very surprised if they would let Hakim Fakhoury talk about these problems and if they did they would refer it to council for further investigation thats what they usually do.

  • Amer Zahr

    So as Donna has pointed out, we have tried this and the city is unwilling to bring these issues to the public. Of course, one must ask: WHY?

    As some concerned citizens, like Donna Hay, Pat Stagg, and Mike Albano know, Hakim has been happy to talk openly about these issues publicly, and would welcome any public meeting with city officials and commentators like Said.

    At this point, I would plead with Said to organize such a meeting in the interests of citizens and the city as a whole. Said has the connections and standing to do it, and it’s something everyone could benefit from.

    Said, what do you think about such a venture?

  • cloe

    Donna – Now that you mention it, I do remember him going before the Council last December. If I remember correctly, which I don’t always do as I get older, I think that the problem was that he wanted an extension as preferred developer and it was the last meeting of the year. I think that they asked him for some documentation or something like that which I don’t think that he had.

    Either way, something has to be done to this area. Now to make it even worse, Burton Katzman is going to build more empty space.

    I always hear about the “master plan” at the meetings. I just don’t think a “ghost area” was part of the plan. Throwing blame is getting boring.

    Does anyone have some positive suggestions for this mess?

  • Donna Hay

    How many people are willing to send the mayor an email telling him that it is time for a meeting with the property owners/landlords to find out exactly what is going on in the city – or should I say how many are willing to sign their name to the request.

  • Amer Zahr

    A town hall meeting on downtown West Dearborn… we need it and we should start to get commitments from everyone, O’Reilly, Hakim, everyone!

  • Michael D. Albano

    Cloe makes a valid point in that most of us don’t know what the facts or real reason are for so many business failures and vacant suites in downtown west Dearborn. It may simply be the economy, but it just appears to the average person that far too many suites are vacant and far too many businesses are closing their doors.

    I don’t know what the issues are, I”m not sure if it’s the city’s or developers or both’s responsibility to show some transparency to citizens about why things are the way they are down there. But it seems to me that the more informed we are about why downtown is the way it is, if there are any options, what is being worked on, the better off we all will be. Communication is the key and while I may be wrong, I don’t believe there has been a lot of communication to citizens about what is going or not going on downtown.

    I am for any and all meetings that bring everyone together to resolve differences and come up with solutions, as what has worked down there in the distant past, is not working today.