PREPARING A LOCAL CHAIN FOR THE NATIONAL STAGE
Saint Louis Bread Company was a 20 bakery-café chain based in St. Louis when Ron Shaich and Au Bon Pain bought the company in 1993. They saw great potential in the company, and hired Heckler Associates to re-name and reposition the brand for national prominence with its strong association with a single city, the name saint louis bread company would not be effective for a national brand. it might establish the bakery-café as an outsider chain and risk being perceived as inferior to a local baker.