Is Panera Bread stabbing themselves in the foot?
What I mean by that is, saving money by taking away something, or conserving in an area that is insignificant in the whole scheme of things. Specifically, I am talking about how St. Louis Bread Company located at 2375 N. Highway 67 in Florissant, MO is saving money.
I go there to blog and drink coffee. I was blogging and minding my own business, when all of a sudden, I saw it; a blocked outlet. I looked in the corner where most of the laptop people congregate and I found another blocked laptop. Curious enough, at dinner time, this usually full area was completely empty…except for me. I guess they decided to save .10, and in the process, throw away $10.00.
I’m not angry about this. I’m just a little irritated. Unlike myself, a lot of people with laptops (and short-life batteries) come to, what we St. Louisans call “BreadCo” and the rest of the world calls Panera Bread (same company) in order to relax and do a little surfing; maybe some writing; or even some work. They tend to use the outlets quite a bit. I see people walking around, looking for a free outlet. Some people even bring power strips so more than two can partake.
Bummer…I was just getting up to ask the manager about this, and he walked away. Regardless, if you are a laptop user and you frequent your local Panera Bread, you may want to give them a call to find out if they have implemented this money-saving approach at their location. You don’t want to waste gas going there, just to end up having to go right back home because you can’t power your laptop.
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I’m not sure if this was clear, but the reason this move does not bother me is that I have an extended life battery on my laptop. I can use it for 4-6 hours at a stretch, before the thing goes dead. Typical laptop batteries give you a lot less…
That’s odd, my local Paneras have signs to let us know where outlets are located so that they are easier to find. I’ll have to keep my eyes open to see if they cover them in the future.