The New Retail Thread

Suffolk 83 said:
Tatte=corporate and sterile. Flour=moderately less so
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Wow, neither of those things were true 5 years ago. I haven’t been into a Tatte since the acquisition, but I was in a newer Flour location a few months ago and didn’t think it was “moderately corporate and sterile.” It was jam packed with people which wasn’t pleasant, but I don’t know what you could mean by your comment.
 
ErnieAdams said:
Not for a while now, they sold their stake, though I think to their former founder/executive who lives locally.
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Not sure this is true. All I can find is that Tatte is owned (majority stake) by Panera. Never saw news it was sold by Panera - can you back that up?
 
Suffolk 83 said:
Nice to see it will be a Flour and not a Tatte, those places are multiplying like a disease right now. I didnt even realize a new one had opened in the old B3 spot in Berkley. Tatte=corporate and sterile. Flour=moderately less so
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Flour is not corporate and sterile in any way, shape, or form. Tatte barely is either -- I agree it's overpriced and not amazing, but they're still all locally owned in Boston and have beautiful spaces.
 
cjbski said:
Not sure this is true. All I can find is that Tatte is owned (majority stake) by Panera. Never saw news it was sold by Panera - can you back that up?
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It happened in 2017, per the below. Panera only owned Tatte for about a year, and only then a slim majority stake. The founder is probably happy with where she is now, but fair to say that the perception of having gone corporate was a blow to the chain's reputation, since most people still seem to think that Panera owns them three years later.

Link: https://www.boston.com/food/restaurants/2019/03/25/tatte-new-locations

Relevant quote:

In 2016, Or sold just over 50 percent of her company to Panera Bread and continued to operate Tatte as an independent company. In 2017, when Panera founder and CEO Ron Shaich sold Panera for $7.5 billion to JAB Holding Corp. and left the company, he took Panera’s share of Tatte with him.
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RandomWalk said:
Tatte is also owned by Panera.
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Tatte is not owned by Panera.

Ron Shaich was the owner of Panera, and they bought a stake in Tatte back in early-2016. At the time it was reported as "Panera buys Tatte." However, Schaich sold Panera to the German holding company that also owns Caribou Coffee, Peet’s Coffee, and Krispy Kreme the next year, in 2017. Panera's stake in Tatte didn't transfer with this sale. It remains with Schaich.
Boston Globe said:
Tatte owner Or has also made an effort to publicize that Panera Bread is no longer an investor in Tatte. Panera was sold to JAB Holding Co.
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Shaich is a local guy, and as well as Tatte he's also a major investor in /owner of Life Alive, Clover, and CAVA.

Interestingly, Shaich's original restaurant - The Cookie Jar in DTX - was purchased by Au Bon Pain back in the '80s. ABP was later going through bankruptcy, and Shaich acquired the chain. Shaich's ABP then acquired the store that would later became Panera in the early-90s. ABP was then spun off from Panera in the late-90s but later reacquired by Panera in 2017. Today, ABP and Panera are under the same holding company, but without Shaich.

www.foodandwine.com

Panera Founder Has Quietly Launched a Fast-Casual Empire from Boston

In 2017, Ron Shaich sold Panera Bread for $7.5 billion. Now he's making moves.
www.foodandwine.com www.foodandwine.com
www.bostonmagazine.com

The Interview: Panera Bread Founder and Tatte Investor Ron Shaich

The fast-casual restaurant titan opens up about the challenges of building—and selling—a $7.5 billion company.
www.bostonmagazine.com www.bostonmagazine.com
www.bostonglobe.com

Life Alive gets a makeover in the next act by Panera’s Ron Shaich - The Boston Globe

Over the last few years, the Panera founder and former CEO has been quietly making over the Lowell-born, casual vegetarian restaurant into something that has the potential to scale nationally.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

That's a few decades of musical chairs in the Boston bakery chain space.
 
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ErnieAdams said:
It happened in 2017, per the below. Panera only owned Tatte for about a year, and only then a slim majority stake. The founder is probably happy with where she is now, but fair to say that the perception of having gone corporate was a blow to the chain's reputation, since most people still seem to think that Panera owns them three years later.

Link: https://www.boston.com/food/restaurants/2019/03/25/tatte-new-locations

Relevant quote:
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Thank you! Surprised there wasn't more media attention given to this...
 
JumboBuc said:
That's a few decades of musical chairs in the Boston bakery chain space.
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Listen to Guy Raz's "How I Built This" episode with Ron about Panera/Au Bon Pain. Then it gets even MORE confusing.
 
Thanks for the clarification Jumbo. Solidifies my feeling that this wasnt a small startup, I had heard something about Panera but didnt know the details. I thought it may have been VC money, this guy calls himself a venture manager. Same difference. There was no way Tatte was multiplying at this rate without some major backing. Hence my corporate statement. It's nice that its a local startup but its a corporate chain, or in the making.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
Tatte=corporate and sterile. Flour=moderately less so
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How do you feel about Pavement?

I personally like Tatte well enough. The food is overpriced, but I try to go once every other month or so because (while expensive) it’s really yummy!
 
Blackbird said:
How do you feel about Pavement?

I personally like Tatte well enough. The food is overpriced, but I try to go once every other month or so because (while expensive) it’s really yummy!
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I honestly don't have much experience with Pavement, I've been in the Newbury st one and got a regular coffee if memory serves. Seemed nice. Seems way more local and small-businessy than Tatte. They have way more street cred in my book
 
I've noticed that day care centers are now taking up storefronts on seemingly every corner. Does anyone have an opinion on that?
 
sm89 said:
I've noticed that day care centers are now taking up storefronts on seemingly every corner. Does anyone have an opinion on that?
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If it activates the space and means we don’t have retail vacancy, I think it’s a win. I hope the landlords aren’t charging too much to the daycare centers to operate these spaces, though. Where are you talking about?
 
TomOfBoston said:
And some wonder why Downtown Crossing retail is anemic.
www.bostonglobe.com

Youths destroy merchandise, pull out stun gun and mace at Downtown Crossing Macy’s - The Boston Globe

A teenage boy was arrested and a group of juveniles were detained after they repeatedly destroyed merchandise and pulled out a stun-gun and mace at the Macy’s in Downtown Crossing Wednesday afternoon, Boston police said.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
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Right, surely any weakness in DTX's retail sector is clearly attributable to a random one-off act of youthful hooliganism, and not the global forces of hyperappreciation of urban real estate conjoined with the Amazon juggernaut.

P.S. Care to garnish your argument with a boatload of other news stories about chronic youth violence in DTX destroying retail's conference there? Oh right, there aren't any... I mean, really, if you're going to argue something, can't you at least try to marshal supporting evidence, instead of just emitting an impulsive knee-jerk reaction?
 
Blackbird said:
How do you feel about Pavement?

I personally like Tatte well enough. The food is overpriced, but I try to go once every other month or so because (while expensive) it’s really yummy!
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I've been to every Pavement in Boston, and spend a fair amount of time in them, as they are concentrated in Allston / Brighton / Fenway. I think their food is pretty lackluster, especially their bagels. But I like the coffee a lot, and find their cafes to be good places to work. Especially the Fenway Pavement on Boylston. Their music selection is usually fantastic.
 
DBM said:
Right, surely any weakness in DTX's retail sector is clearly attributable to a random one-off act of youthful hooliganism, and not the global forces of hyperappreciation of urban real estate conjoined with the Amazon juggernaut.

P.S. Care to garnish your argument with a boatload of other news stories about chronic youth violence in DTX destroying retail's conference there? Oh right, there aren't any... I mean, really, if you're going to argue something, can't you at least try to marshal supporting evidence, instead of just emitting an impulsive knee-jerk reaction?
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Not to worry, they won't be prosecuted in the end! Check on these cases in a few weeks/months and I'd bet they will be continued without a finding or dismissed. That's the culture that has been set up in Boston now, unfortunately.
 
Taco Bell coming to 872 Comm. Ave. in front of BU West, most recently a 7-11 and half of a Mattress Discounters before that. Guess we can expect to see more of them after their (presumptive) success with the downtown location. This one will be two doors down from Chipotle.
 
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