Meet & Eat: Panera in Brookfield, WI SAT22JAN lunchish

Here's a Facebook event

For anyone on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=190315407646766

I'll be arriving around noon, maybe a little sooner. Depending how quickly I can get things done in the morning.

I'm hoping I can make it but my daughter has a b-day party at 10:30 so depending on how long it lasts

XDFDE45 said:

I'm hoping I can make it but my daughter has a b-day party at 10:30 so depending on how long it lasts

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We'll host the birthday party! :banana:

protias said:

We'll host the birthday party! :banana:

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She goes to a Lutheran school so I can only begin to imagine the looks on the faces of some of the parents .

XDFDE45 said:

She goes to a Lutheran school so I can only begin to imagine the looks on the faces of some of the parents .

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Don't lump all of us Lutherans together.

Looks like I'll be showing up tomorrow... I'll probably be there around 11:30 or so. Pretty excited too, it'll be my first OC... Looking forward to meeting some of you too! Might be bringing my girlfriend if she's free, but she won't be ocing.

Canceled

Just got a call on the WCI hotline. MKEGal tells me the place is POSTED, we are NOT WELCOME there.

She will update the thread with the exact wording on the sinage later today.

Carry On,

Hubert Hoffman, Vice President
Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
608-792-0669
Hubert@wisconsincarry.org

Yep they don't want us there!



Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk, updated from PC

sign on their window... & contact info

The sign says:

(Panera logo)
Panera Bread prohibits the carrying or displaying of weapons of any kind except those carried by certified law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties.

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So they're OK with armed police coming into the store after it's been robbed & people have been shot, but they're not OK with civil rights.

Maybe a reference to the Waffle House in Kennesaw, GA would be useful.

And to news stories of people being assaulted in parking lots.

And the very simple question: "How will your sign stop criminals?"
Because of course it won't.

Since the sign says it's company policy, I think National should deal with this.
Here's the Panera "Contact Us" page: http://www.panerabread.com/about/contact/index2.php
I used "my experience at Panera Bread" as the topic.

Here's the corporate info:
3630 S Geyer Rd.
St. Louis, MO
63127
Tel: (314) 984-1000
Fax: (314) 909-3300

Here's the store info again:
2095 N Calhoun Rd.
Brookfield, WI
53005
(262) 641-9999 - Phone
(262) 641-0392 - Fax
John Walch, owner
(But nothing is stopping you from calling & asking for his name yourself, & telling them you want to write him a letter about their new policy.)

Here's the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Panera/85169964591
Until Panera responds, my post is under the "just others" link.

This is what I sent through their "contact us" page, & will mail paper copies to the addresses above:

I coordinated a lunch get-together with a dozen or so friends at the Panera in Brookfield, WI on SAT22JAN11. One of our number has been to this location many times - including just last Saturday - and spoke highly of it, which is why we chose this restaurant.

When I arrived, I was met at the door by a sign on blaze orange paper saying that our group was not welcome. We are civil rights activists focussing on self-protection, and the sign says your company prohibits anyone other than on-duty police from exercising their right to self-protection while dining.

Needless to say, we did not spend our money there, and will not unless this policy is rescinded.

Your sign does nothing to "protect" employees or patrons. Any criminal set on robbery & murder will ignore your sign, as it's only a minor charge of trespassing when he ignores it. All your sign does is prevent law-abiding citizens from spending money at your establishment.

Criminals like "gun free zones" because they know they probably won't be harmed at work. You've just made your restaurant more dangerous, as well as the surrounding parking lot.

In contrast, armed citizens have stopped robberies before they started, and are extremely unlikely to harm anyone who's not threatening their life. (Google "Waffle House" "Kennesaw GA" for one example.)

I look forward to hearing that this policy has been thought through and rescinded.

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Man I must have just missed the post here about it being canceled :banghead:. Drove out there and saw no faces I recognized .

I was there around noon. I had to use the bathroom, so I headed there first. I didn't see anyone, so as I'm dialing to call Paul, the manager approaches me and asked if I had noticed their policy. I did not, did not even look, and he gave me the sheet saying they ban lawful carry of firearms by law abiding citizens. I asked him if this was a new policy or not and he did not know. I thanked him, put my firearm away and walked back in because I had forgotten to get him name. He wrote it down for me on the sheet, so now at least I can let corporate/franchise know who it was who told me.

On my way home, Paul called me back saying that all WI stores are now posted. I'll have to go to the one in Pewaukee on Capital Dr to see if that is true.

Jason in WI said:

Yep they don't want us there!

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

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So it looks like police officers wanting to eat lunch cannot eat there.

protias said:

IOn my way home, Paul called me back saying that all WI stores are now posted. I'll have to go to the one in Pewaukee on Capital Dr to see if that is true.

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I'll have to check the one on Layton to see if it is posted there.

We were going to have an OC Meet and Eat at the Panera in Brookfield today. When we got there, they were posted. I went inside and asked for a manager. He said it was Corporate policy. I asked Panera or franchise? He said franchise. They own most of the Panera's in WI.

He gave me a phone number for John Walch. I called John and had a short conversation with him. He indicated they owned all the Panera's in WI except LaCrosse and Eau Claire. He said they should of all been posted this past week. I asked what caused the change. He said it has always been the policy, however, with consultation of their customers, they made it official. I told them I eat at their Delavan location 3 times a week OC'ing and have never been asked so which customers did they 'consult'. He backtracked and said consultation with their managers.

He said don't read anything political into this, it is purely a business decision. I told him I respected his private property rights and his business rights, however private citizens have a right to determine when and where we spend our money. He agreed. I mentioned to him that they would have a false sense of security because the only people he is stopping from carrying in the stores are law abiding people. Criminals would read the sign and say 'I am now guaranteed defenseless victims'. He said 'I understand'.

I left it at that.

I have not gone by the Delavan one. I will in the next day or two and see if I can talk to the manager there to let them put a face to the policy. If enough managers see regular customers stop showing up, maybe a new 'poll' of managers would fix it?

consulted with their customers? who exactly are these customers? arent we customers? smells pretty fishy to me. well, if they dont want our money, off we go elsewhere. see ya.

paul@paul-fisher.com said:

...it is purely a business decision.

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Apparently they're doing well enough in this poor economy that they can afford to alienate customers across the state.

Criminals would read the sign and say 'I am now guaranteed defenseless victims'.

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There, fixed it for you.

Would you post (or PM me) John's phone # please?
I think the more people who actually talk to him (as well as sending letters) the more impact we'll have.

OOOOOPPPPPSSSSS.
I went driving around but being that I forgot to put the address in my scheduler had no clue were exactly it was. So my family and I finally went to the one on Greenfield. I didn't even look for a sign so I have no clue if it was there or not. But we ate our lunch and nobody said anything to me at all. The manager even helped me carry the plates to our table!!!

Now I am interested in finding out if there was a sign and I missed it or what the deal was. Will make a note to myself to check on this before I visit another Panera bread again.

But after we left Panera we went down the road to Fletchers to check on a few more items I wanted to acquire. Now the wifey wants a 4th gen Glock or a Beretta .380 she hasn't decided.

MKEgal said:

There, fixed it for you.

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OOPS! I went back and fixed the post.

Yeah, I was super pissed today! I showed up around 11:30 and didn't see anyone carrying. Since it was my first time I left my piece in the trunk, but my girlfriend pointed out the sign on the door. A sign which I walked by without even noticing, by the way. If they think its well posted, they couldn't be more wrong. Needless to say, me and my girlfriend turned around and walked straight out without spending any money. I didn't talk to anyone about it because I don't really go to panera and wasn't sure if this was a new policy or not. But also needless to say, I was mighty upset!!!

La Crosse Panera

Hey guys, your more than welcome to come over to the La Crosse Panera, just talked with the manager and they welcome us freedom minded people.

Managers name is Tori, nice person.

JJC

They're not part of the corporate Franchise and as such don't have to follow corporate policy. I know I know that all could change. I'm going there for lunch tomorrow.