The reason why Panera changed it's name was to reflect a shift from a bakery to a broader and fast casual cafe concept as they wanted a more versatile name for a growing national brand which offered more than just bread, although Panera did keep it's original name for their St. Louis Locations.
But at other locations Panera changed it's name to Panera from the St. Louis Bread Company in 1997.
The new Panera name is derived from the word breadbasket, which aimed to position Panera for success in the emerging fast casual market, focusing on healthy and engaging environments with diverse offerings like soups, salads and sandwiches.
Panera also closed their Panera Cares locations as a result of financial losses, system abuse, lack of viability and negative environment.
Panera Cares was Panera's "pay what you can" cafe experience which shut down because it had became financially unsustainable, and failed to recoup enough costs due to people paying less than what was suggested.
This was especially true with students and homeless people who mostly paid less than what was suggested at the Panera Cares and resulted in shortfalls on revenue and it also became an abusive atmosphere even though they made efforts to raise hunger awareness.
The last Panera Cares location closed in 2019, with Panera deeming the non profit model no longer viable, so they had to close it down.
The Panera Cares cafes, were designed to be self sustaining, and only recover 60 percent to 80 percent of their operating cost, which is a significant deficit compared to their traditional Panera cafe locations.
A significant number of patrons to Panera Cares locations, including students and homeless people, often paid little to nothing, which lead to the perception that the Panera Cares system was being gamed.
And the financial strain on Panera Cares created tension, with reports of security guards and even managers confronting patrons, which made the atmosphere less welcoming.
And the Panera Cares model, which relied on wealthier customers to subsidize others, proved to be too challenging to maintain long term for a private business.
Panera Cares was launched in 2010, and was aimed to combat food insecurity by offering food at suggested donation prices, with options to volunteer in lieu of payment.
And despite it's initial success, the Panera Cares experiment faced growing challenges and eventually closed all of it's locations, including the final Panera Cares location in Boston in February of 2019.