Bakery-cafe chain Au Bon Pain goes to market with new image

Nation's Restaurant News, August 19, 2002 by Lori Lohmeyer

BOSTON -- Au Bon Pain, seeking to stay abreast of fast-casual trends and boost sales, is rolling out a new restaurant prototype design featuring a revamped decor and enhanced self-service options.

The changes mark the 24-year-old brand's first chainwide image overhaul.

Sporting bright yellow and pale blue colors meant to evoke the French countryside in Provence, the redesigned units are seeing sales leap nearly 25 percent over former levels, primarily because of increased customer traffic.

The 240-unit Au Bon Pain, a subsidiary of Compass Group PLC, tested the new French-focused decor in three markets before remodeling units in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington, D.C., Ohio and New Jersey Currently, Au Bon Pain has 15 locations open with the new style, with four to six more slated to open by the company's fiscal yearend in September. The French bakery-cafe chain said it expects to redesign 30 units and open 30 more with the new look by the end of 2003.

"Au Bon Pain is a very French name, but the Au Bon Pain look was anything but French. We wanted to get a French feel to it, but not necessarily an in-your-face French look," said Frank Guidara, the chain's president and chief executive.

The design incorporates the atmosphere of an urban marketplace. The new look has a wide array of self-service stations, which aids speed of service, Guidara said.

Boston-based Sasaki Associates spearheaded the design, which was supervised by Ruth Barratt, vice president of art and style for the Compass-owned Restaurant Associates group. According to Guidara, Barratt's role in opening RA's Cucina & Co. provided the experience she needed to incorporate fast-casual self-service at Au Bon Pain.

"We wanted to create a marketplace feeling in Au Bon Pain," Guidara said. "We define marketplace as intimate. It's much more seductive, the new Au Bon Pain. The food is all merchandised in front of you. You can touch it, feel it, smell it."

Au Bon Pain's self-service initiative comes as fast-casual chains are adding self-service alternatives in the face of increasing competition. Panera Bread Co.'s rapid expansion has raised the stakes in the bakery-cafe segment. Last year the St. Louis-based chain opened about 107 units and has a development target of 115 additional units in 2003. The push for higher-quality options in a hurry has led such chains as Corner Bakery, Pret a Manger and Starbucks to incorporate self-service options in their stores.

Guidara said that in addition to boosting speed of service, the prototype's new format has helped improve customer relations. With a greeter at the door and employees restocking the self-service shelves with fresh-baked products, customers have an increased opportunity to interact with Au Bon Pain staffers. In addition, high counters were removed, placing customers directly in front of the cashier when they check out.

In the self-service area, food is displayed on chrome shelving, similar to carts in a French bakery, Elizabeth Meek, a Sasaki principal said. In order to enhance the new self-service stations, museum-style lighting was used. "We wanted the food to be the star," she added.

To keep daily operations moving with the new self-service component, menus were simplified and color-coded by category. Meek said Au Bon Pain increased the front-of-the-house area to ensure adequate space for traffic flow and food display. Adding more space allows customers to mill around the food area to make selections without feeling crowded or rushed, Meek said. The resulting smaller kitchen was made more efficient, she added.

A new sunflower-yellow logo and cafe color scheme is intended to reflect the Provencal mood, which also comes from the blue color of the region's woad flower. Light-colored porcelain tile helps give the restaurants a contemporary, clean atmosphere.

Seating at new, S-shaped tables gives customers the opportunity to interact in larger groups. Chairs and benches in the dining area are upholstered with the chain's signature yellow, which is weaved with gray to mute the bright color.

Au Bon Pain, which operates 162 units and franchises 65 others, said the new look currently is being added only to company-operated units. However, all future units opened by franchisees will have the new design and format. Franchisees won't be asked to remodel existing units for at least a year. "With franchisees it's got to be the right investment. It looks like it's worth the investment," Guidara said. "Sales are up dramatically, but not because people are buying more," he added. "It's all customer count increases. In fact, the [$3.25] check average hasn't budged at all."

Au Bon Pain also added four warm foccacia sandwiches, more soups and a new $6.99 salmon salad to its menu.