Monday August 25 2:57 PM EDT
Company Press Release
500th Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp. Store Opens
ENBC Now No. 1 U.S. Bagel Retailer
GOLDEN, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 25, 1997--Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp. (NASDAQ:NMS - news) today announced the opening of its 500th bagel store in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The 500th store -- an Einstein Bros(R) Bagels store -- makes Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp. (ENBC) the largest bagel retailer in the U.S. in terms of number of retail outlets.
ENBC recently reported financial results for its second quarter ending July 13, 1997. The company reported systemwide net revenue increased 149 percent in the first half of 1997 to $146.4 million with net income of $10.3 million or 30 cents per share.
As the number one retailer of bagels, ENBC will sell about 300 million bagels this year or almost 6 million each week. On top of the 300 million bagels, ENBC customers will shmear more than 8 million pounds of the world's greatest cream cheese or more than 11 tons per day. ENBC customers will wash down their bagels and cream cheese with more than 25 million cups of coffee this year.
``Our success is driven by our area developers, our store managers and our bakers in the Einstein Bros Bagels and Noah's New York Bagels(R) stores in 500 neighborhoods across America,'' said Mark Goldston, president and CEO of ENBC. ``We have worked very hard to be accepted from San Diego to Sarasota to Seattle.''
According to the American Bagel Association, retail sales at bagel shops increased more than 450 percent from 1993 to 1996 to more than $2.3 billion in 1996.
``Even though bagels are 300 years old,'' said Jeff Butler, president of Einstein Bros Bagels, ``many consumers are just discovering them. They're portable, inexpensive and good for you. Einstein Bros offers 16 varieties of bagels with more than 15 ways to top them including 11 different flavors of cream cheese. A person could order a different bagel with a different topping every single day and not repeat their order until the last day of September.''
Best Bagels
Einstein Bros Bagels and Noah's New York Bagels are often named as the best bagel in local bagel contests. In just the last 18 months, the company has won top honors in Portland, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Oakland, Los Angeles, Denver, Indianapolis, Long Island, N.Y., Sarasota and Coral Springs, Fla.
``Our bagels are made with all-natural ingredients and contain no preservatives,'' said Ron Savelli, Bagel Czar and vice president, product development. ``Because we use no preservatives, our stores fresh bake their bagels in small batches all day. Customers love getting a hot bagel fresh out of the oven.''
More Americans Choosing Bagels Over Donuts
Bagels are now more popular than donuts in the morning. According to the ``1996 Gallup Study of Consumers' Attitudes & Behavior Concerning Breakfast,'' 22 percent of breakfast eaters surveyed said they ate bagels in the past seven days compared with 11 percent of those surveyed who ate donuts in the past seven days.
The survey also shows that the number of people who ate bagels for breakfast has increased from 9 percent in 1986 to 22 percent in 1996. At the same time, the number of people eating donuts for breakfast has declined from 23 percent to 11 percent. The study shows that from 1992 to 1996, bagels were the fastest-growing breakfast food category.
Einstein Bros Bagels
There are more than 370 Einstein Bros Bagels stores located in Washington D.C. and 26 states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Einstein Bros stores feature traditional and creative bagels baked fresh throughout the day in an inviting cafe environment that combines the authentic tastes of a bagel bakery with the comfortable setting of a neighborhood meeting place. Each store blends function, style, and customer comfort with simple, contemporary colors and furnishings in a fun social atmosphere. A typical Einstein Bros Bagel store is 1,500-3,000 square feet and seats 30-50 inside with room for outdoor patio seating.
In addition to traditional bagel flavors, Einstein Bros offers Nutty Banana, Wild Blueberry, Dark Pumpernickel, Spinach Herb, Sun-Dried Tomato and Chocolate Chip. Einstein Bros Bagels stores also offer a broad selection of specialty cream cheeses, premium coffee products and an array of creative soups, salads and sandwiches.
Noah's New York Bagels
Noah's New York Bagels was founded in Berkeley, California by Noah Alper in 1989, after he tasted the ``perfect bagel'' in Brooklyn and reproduced it for bagel-deprived Californians. Today, Noah's New York Bagels produces over six million bagels per month, and is the largest retail bagel bakery on the West Coast.
Noah's New York Bagels stores offer a taste of Old New York for both on-premise dining and take-out. Tradition is very important to Noah's success. Noah's New York Bagels stores recreate the mood and feeling of an authentic, turn-of-the-century New York bagel bakery. Walls are adorned with photos of the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York skyscrapers, and Noah's family and friends.
Noah's seventeen varieties of bagels include: Plain, Multigrain, Super Onion, Egg, Garlic, Poppy, Salt, New York Rye, Sesame, Pumpernickel, Everything, Cinnamon Raisin, Blueberry, Whole Wheat Sesame, Sun-Dried Tomato, Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Orange.
Twelve varieties of cream cheese shmears include: Regular, Light or Fat-Free Plain, Regular or Light Lox, Light or Fat-Free Sun Dried Tomato Basil, Light Chive, Light Garlic Herb, Light Veggie, Light Walnut Raisin, and Light Strawberry. Several varieties of Tofutti (non-dairy cream cheese) are also available.
Five varieties of lox include: New York Style, Oregon, Norwegian, Peppered, and Lox Trim. Numerous deli salads and specialty items include: Seven Herb Salmon, Smoked Whitefish, Albacore Tuna, and Hummus.
Our Neighborhoods Are The Center Of Our Bagels
``We not only feel it is right and good to help make our neighborhoods a better place to live and work,'' said Goldston, ``but feel that as good corporate citizens it is our obligation to do so.''
Through its Einstein Bros and Noah's brands, ENBC is working to contribute to all of its neighborhoods. For example, to reinforce its belief in the importance of strong communities, Noah's New York Bagels created the Noah's Bagels Foundation. The Foundation awards grants to charitable organizations that focus on education and youth. Whether teaching a young child to read, or sending a terminally ill child to camp, the Foundation believes in supporting educational programs that develop the minds, hearts and bodies of our youth. Additionally, each Noah's store supports nonprofit organizations by participating in local events and volunteer opportunities and by donating fresh bagels.
In South Florida, kids are having lots of fun exploring their neighborhood library. Celebrity readings, story hours, contests and coloring books are just a few of the fun activities that Einstein Bros Bagels and Florida libraries are sponsoring to spark kids' love of learning.
In Denver, the kids at Wyman Elementary School have a new playground thanks to a Denver neighborhood group named Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods (CHUN). CHUN raises money to fund projects that will help the underprivileged in their community. When Einstein Bros opened in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, store employees helped CHUN by donating bagels and coffee on Grand Opening Day. CHUN collected $450 and will use the money to help others in their community like the kids at Wyman Elementary.
In San Francisco, Noah's New York Bagels and their generous customers made 122 wishes come true this year by sending young children to camp. From San Francisco to Sacramento, kids went to summer camp in the wilderness to hike, bike, sing campfire songs and make their wishes come true.
In St. Louis, cream cheese and cement may seem like an unlikely combination, but not to Webster Groves Mayor Terri Williams. Mayor Williams wanted to create a greater sense of pride in her community, so she started the Hometown Hero Walk. The Walk celebrates members of the community who, by donating their time or money, make Webster Groves a better place to live. Every year, the people honored will have their names engraved in sidewalks around the city. Einstein Bros donated the proceeds from sales of its Chunky Apple Cream Cheese to pay for the first slab of concrete to honor their community's local heroes.
In Pittsburgh, Einstein Bros employees volunteered their time to clean up the three parks located within one mile of their store. Employees wanted to enhance the environment for the families, friends, and companies in the neighborhood of which they would now be a part.
ENBC was formed in March, 1995, through the combination of three leading regional bagel retailers: Brackman Brothers, Salt Lake City; Bagel & Bagel, Kansas City; and Offerdahl's Bagel Gourmet, Fort Lauderdale. Later that year, ENBC acquired Baltimore Bagel Co. of San Diego and in February, 1996, ENBC acquired Noah's New York Bagels.
As of Aug. 17, 1997, ENBC, based in Golden, Colo., franchised 500 retail bagel stores in 28 states and the District of Columbia, primarily under the Einstein Bros Bagels and Noah's New York Bagels brands.
Certain statements in this release constitute forward-looking statements and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, its area developers and franchisees, and Einstein Bros Bagels stores and Noah's New York Bagels stores to be materially different from any performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: area developers adherence to development schedules; advertising and promotional efforts; adverse publicity; availability, locations and terms of sites for store development; changes in business strategy or development plans; availability and terms of capital; regional weather conditions; and other factors referenced in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The success of the Company is dependent on its area developers and franchisees and the manner in which they operate and develop their Einstein Bros Bagels stores and Noah's New York Bagels stores.
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Contact:
Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp.
Media contact: Gary Gerdemann, 303-216-3724
Analyst contact: Nancy Shipp, 303-216-3738 |
