SURPRISE!! Panera’s Socialist Restaurant Closes Due to People Not Paying for Their Food

The_Waco_Kid's Avatar
go figure .. BAHHAA


SURPRISE!! Panera’s Socialist Restaurant Closes Due to People Not Paying for Their Food

https://www.redstate.com/alexparker/...-cares-closes/

Posted at 7:19 pm on February 6, 2019 by Alex Parker

Panera Bread cares, don’t you know? And by “cares,” I mean it lets people have stuff for free. I sure wish more people cared about me.

Donald Trump handed socialism its behind last night, to the dismay of Bernie Sanders (here); but Panera Bread was sure the economic system was the bees knees. Therefore, it created Panera Cares. The cool and different restaurant’s MO? It offered food at a “suggested donation” price.

Doesn’t that sound nice? Let’s all join hands and sing “Imagine” and just pay what we can afford. Personally, I’ve had my eyes on the Mercedes-Benz Maybach Exelero, suggested retail $8 million. I appreciate their suggestion; I’d like to give $124.92 — I have that exact amount on a Kohl’s merchandise card. I hope they like (sorta) high-quality yet affordable clothing and jewelry.

Now here’s a shock to us all: Panera Cares’ll be officially closing on February 15th. As it turns out, when you don’t make people pay for stuff, people don’t pay for stuff. Though there’s no “I” in “team,” there’s a big one in “Incentive,” which the non-capitalist Panera Cares (initials = PC; coincidence?) failed to grasp.

The first Panera Cares opened in 2010. Founder Ron Shaich described it thusly, during a TEDx talk:
“In many ways, this whole experiment is ultimately a test of humanity. Would people pay for it? Would people come in and value it?”
Fast-forward to a total of five locations, in Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, Dearborn, and Portland.

It didn’t go well, particularly in free-thinking Portland. As reported by The Oregonian in 2013:
[S]ix months after opening in 2011, leaders saw things at the Oregon cafe they hadn’t seen in Missouri or Michigan. Grant High School students mobbed the cafe daily, ordering multiple meals and not paying for them. Homeless people came for every meal — every day — as if the cafe was a soup kitchen. Hollywood neighbors complained of an increase in crime and loitering.
Many problems came down to “a sense of entitlement,” said Panera spokeswoman Kate Antonacci. Though the cafes are an experiment, they must become self-sustaining to survive. The money coming into the Portland cafe was so far below meeting costs at one point that the cafe seemed poised to close.
Portland was only recouping about 60% of its costs. Ron understood enough about human nature to make the following statement to the Portland Tribune, but not enough to realize the statement was futile:
“There’s a palpable sense of people in pain attracted to our (Portland) store… We had to help them understand that this is a café of shared responsibility and not a handout.”
On Monday, owner JAB Holding Co. made the announcement to Bloomberg:
“Despite our commitment to this mission, it’s become clear that continued operation of the Boston Panera Cares is no longer viable. We’re working with the current bakery-cafe associates affected by the closure to identify alternate employment opportunities within Panera and Au Bon Pain.”
Notably — and oddly — I’m writing this from Panera Bread; and, as it so happens, I ate at Au Bon Pain last night. Therefore, as of late, I suppose I’ve had a slight brush with merchants of socialism, which is to say, a brush with American leftism, and also — it should be recognized — Naziism: the preferred system of the party of National Socialists. That’s a distinction which may soon describe the Democratic Party. Let’s not forget: ObamaCares.

Relevant RedState links in this article: here.
The sort of people who would frequent establishments such as this in our more "enlightened" cities would also leave their dirty needle on the table and take a shit in the doorway.
WTF's Avatar
  • WTF
  • 02-08-2019, 07:29 AM
Yes that is why you have to have skin in the game.

I could compare this to the health industry but many of you on the right would not understand.

So onward with the ignorance! Post away comrades. ..
Yes that is why you have to have skin in the game.

I could compare this to the health industry but many of you on the right would not understand.

So onward with the ignorance! Post away comrades. .. Originally Posted by WTF
You should use the same concept and build houses for people and let them pay what they want at closing.

You could win the Nobel Prize!!
bambino's Avatar
You should use the same concept and build houses for people and let them pay what they want at closing.

You could win the Nobel Prize!! Originally Posted by friendly fred
I think WTF is a lawyer now. He does his work pro bono. The way he mangled the English language his work should be free!
  • Tiny
  • 02-08-2019, 08:56 AM
Yes that is why you have to have skin in the game.

I could compare this to the health industry but many of you on the right would not understand.

So onward with the ignorance! Post away comrades. .. Originally Posted by WTF
Great analogy and many on the right do understand. The free market system doesn’t work in health care in the USA. Close to one out of every five dollars in this country is spent on health care. People think they should be entitled to unlimited care, high priced drugs that aren’t any more effective than lower cost alternatives, unlimited end of life care, and pay nothing for it. Medicare or insurance pays for it. Nobody advertises prices. If you want you can do like the patrons in Waco’s restaurant, go to the emergency room and never pay anything. I’d prefer a free market alternative like what singapore’s got, although almost anything would be better than what we’ve got now
themystic's Avatar
Great analogy and many on the right do understand. The free market system doesn’t work in health care in the USA. Close to one out of every five dollars in this country is spent on health care. People think they should be entitled to unlimited care, high priced drugs that aren’t any more effective than lower cost alternatives, unlimited end of life care, and pay nothing for it. Medicare or insurance pays for it. Nobody advertises prices. If you want you can do like the patrons in Waco’s restaurant, go to the emergency room and never pay anything. I’d prefer a free market alternative like what singapore’s got, although almost anything would be better than what we’ve got now Originally Posted by Tiny
Obama Care was supposed to put Healthcare on the employers.The employers just found ways around it. People who couldn't get insurance because of pre existing conditions were able to get insurance. if your wanting me to feel sorry for the healthcare providers you better come up with something better than this post. Give the wealthy more tax cuts and take away from healthcare. Thats the answer
  • Tiny
  • 02-08-2019, 09:18 AM
Mystic, Quite the opposite. The health care providers price gouge. Again, I’d favor a system like Singapore. People are forced to save, and then pay about the first $30,000 of medical expenses out of savings. Hospitals, doctors and drug companies are forced to compete so prices are much lower. Major medical is covered by government sponsored insurance. They’ve got universal health care, better outcomes, and spend less on this than we do just on Medicaid and Medicare.

The insurance companies and United States government operate in some ways like Waco’s restaurant. People are going to eat tons of food if they don’t have to pay for it. It won’t work unless you start operating like a soup kitchen, low costs and cheap food. Similarly in health care you either need a free market solution or bare bones socialist system. What we’ve got now isn’t sustainable
themystic's Avatar
Mystic, Quite the opposite. The health care providers price gouge. Again, I’d favor a system like Singapore. People are forced to save, and then pay about the first $30,000 of medical expenses out of savings. Hospitals, doctors and drug companies are forced to compete so prices are much lower. Major medical is covered by government sponsored insurance. They’ve got universal health care, better outcomes, and spend less on this than we do just on Medicaid and Medicare. Originally Posted by Tiny
That does sound good. Why dont we have it?. Ive had an up close and personal look at medical costs so I already have an opinion
rexdutchman's Avatar
Yeah there's a shocker , just wait till all the states are required to rise the min wage , a lot of places will go out of business and the one the don't will only be for the rich
WTF's Avatar
  • WTF
  • 02-08-2019, 10:35 AM
You should use the same concept and build houses for people and let them pay what they want at closing.

You could win the Nobel Prize!! Originally Posted by friendly fred
I think WTF is a lawyer now. He does his work pro bono. The way he mangled the English language his work should be free! Originally Posted by bambino
How about I build you two a free outhouse to post your bullshit in? Might help keep the smell down around here.
I think WTF is a lawyer now. He does his work pro bono. The way he mangled the English language his work should be free! Originally Posted by bambino
Does Cougar High have a pre pre-law course for language deficient "students"?
WTF's Avatar
  • WTF
  • 02-08-2019, 07:11 PM
Great analogy and many on the right do understand. The free market system doesn’t work in health care in the USA. Close to one out of every five dollars in this country is spent on health care. People think they should be entitled to unlimited care, high priced drugs that aren’t any more effective than lower cost alternatives, unlimited end of life care, and pay nothing for it. Medicare or insurance pays for it. Nobody advertises prices. If you want you can do like the patrons in Waco’s restaurant, go to the emergency room and never pay anything. I’d prefer a free market alternative like what singapore’s got, although almost anything would be better than what we’ve got now Originally Posted by Tiny
Agreed...and I said many on the right, not all.

Singapore, the Germans, the French have an interesting combo of both public and private.
bambino's Avatar
How about I build you two a free outhouse to post your bullshit in? Might help keep the smell down around here. Originally Posted by WTF
You couldn’t build one. But you are full of shit!
  • Tiny
  • 02-09-2019, 05:35 PM
That does sound good. Why dont we have it?. Ive had an up close and personal look at medical costs so I already have an opinion Originally Posted by themystic
Maybe a couple of reasons. One is politics. The Republicans aren't aggressive enough about doing something about monopolistic behavior and the Democrats want to throw more money at a problem without fixing it. Another, as Americans, we're arrogant and think we have all the answers. So when we have a problem we don't look at other countries to see how they solved it.