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Article: Dinner business offers potential.
- Article from:
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO)
- Article date:
- August 9, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Gail Appleson
Aug. 9--Panera Bread Co., which plans to open its 1,000th cafe this year, is the sales leader in the nation's explosive restaurant category called fast casual, according to a report by global consumer research firm Mintel International.
"They are in the right place at the right time and are capitalizing off the trends," said Bill Hulkower, an analyst with Mintel.
Richmond Heights-based Panera, the parent of St. Louis Bread Co., reported sales for fiscal 2005 of more than $640 million, a 34 percent increase over 2004. It has 939 cafes.
Hulkower said he considers the fast casual segment the most rapidly growing in ...