11 | EATERY PR February 6, 2017 | VOL. 53, No. 6
15 | BRIDGEPORT REBUILDS
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Element of Genius
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Rising to the challenge GREAT HARVEST BREAD CO. TAKING AIM AT PANERA BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com
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ferent permutations of what could happen, and they have continued to change. “One can,” he deadpanned, “go crazy trying to keep up with all of it.” Wadleigh said the exchange’s employees meet regularly to discuss possible scenarios should the Affordable Care Act be altered, repealed, replaced — or left the same — under the Trump Administration. Should major changes occur, Access Health CT and similar exchanges in the other states could face radical modifications, if not outright disbandment. “It’s still too early to say anything with any certainty,” Wadleigh said. Indeed, the only certainty so far is
reat Harvest Bread Co. may not be a name familiar to many area residents, but that’s about to change as the Dillon, Montana, bakery/café chain takes aim at the Northeast — and at one competitor in particular. “There’s a real opportunity for somebody to compete with Panera,” Great Harvest Bread Co. President Eric Keshin told the Business Journal. “And we feel that we’re that somebody.” Though its approximately 215 stores pale next to Panera’s 2,000-plus, GHBC believes that both its business model and its wares are sufficient to take a considerable bite out of the Missouri-based bread behemoth, which posted third-quarter 2016 revenues of $684.2 million and is expected to report fourth-quarter revenues of around $728.2 million on Feb. 8. The 40-year-old GHBC thinks the Northeast is ripe for development, especially in the wake of Panera’s closing stores in Newtown, Darien and Westport last year. The corporation had little to say about the motives behind the closings — the leases were simply allowed to expire. It is not known whether Newtown's longstanding policy of not allowing drive-through windows for restaurants came into play. Keshin said those closings “opened a window for us. We feel that we can appeal to Fairfield and Westchester County diners because our restaurants operate as ‘freedom franchises’” — meaning that franchisees can personalize their décor and menu choices to suit their markets — “instead of all looking and feeling the same and just contributing to sprawl.” For example, an outlet in a predominantly Jewish area might find challah or babka among its top sellers, he said, while one in New Orleans might not
» Access Health, page 6
» Panera, page 6
Greenwich High School senior Derek Woo, a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, researched pesticides and bee colony collapse. Photo by Rob Rozycki
With no Trump edict, business as usual for Access Health CT BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com
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ith total enrollment figures likely to be down compared with last year and the future of the Affordable Care Act still
in doubt, Jim Wadleigh, CEO of the state’s health insurance exchange Access Health CT, said the preferred way of continuing to do business is continuing to do business. “If and as changes are made, we will react accordingly,” Wadleigh said from Access Health CT’s office in Hartford. “Since the election in November, we have seen dif-