Hamra Enterprises unit raises bread in Bean Town

Boston Bread LLC

A division of Hamra Enterprises

Address: 1885 S. Ingram Mill Road, Springfield, MO 65804

Top executive: Mike Hamra, president and chief operating officer

2003 revenues: $18.5 million

2004 revenues: $25.5 million

2005 revenues: $33 million

3-year growth: 78 percent

Employees: 600

Springfield attorney Sam Hamra knows a thing or two about running a franchise. His Hamra Enterprises netted more than $33 million in revenues last year from one franchise division alone.

Hamra Enterprises subsidiaries hold three franchise rights: Wendy’s in Missouri, Panera Bread in Chicago, and Panera Bread in Boston, the division that recorded $33 million in 2005 sales, a 78 percent increase from 2003.

Hamra Enterprises’ Boston Bread LLC is the 10th fastest growing company in Springfield Business Journal’s Dynamic Dozen.

Though the market is 1,400 miles away on the East Coast, home offices in Springfield are Boston Bread’s ground control. A staff of 40, including four full-time certified public accountants, handles Boston Bread’s accounting, bookkeeping and payroll tasks from Hamra Plaza, 1885 S. Ingram Mill Road.

“We receive daily reports from Chicago and Boston … so they know exactly what the sales were,” Sam Hamra said. “These reports go back the next day, showing the sales of each unit, the food cost, the labor cost, the supply cost (and) comparative sales for the previous week and previous year.”

The Springfield office is the information and analysis center, generating the reports that help determine operations goals and making sure those goals are met.

“You have to have good support staff for the people in the field,” Hamra added. “At the same time, it’s important that you have the top people in charge of your operations. The operations are the key to your success.”

Boston Bread’s top executive is Hamra’s son, Mike Hamra. Sam Hamra said the development of the Boston market is his son’s handiwork.

“He’s truly done an outstanding job there,” Sam Hamra said of his son, who in 2001 moved from practicing law in Washington, D.C., to working full time to build Boston Bread. He also was chief of staff and legal adviser for the Federal Communications Commission Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

In late 2004, Mike Hamra was named Boston Bread’s president and chief operating officer, managing 14 cafés and 600 employees. He also is president and COO of Chicago Bread, which comprises 26 cafés and 1,050 employees. Hamra also serves as Hamra Enterprises’ vice president and general counsel and has offices in Boston and Chicago. Sam Hamra is chairman and CEO of both Panera Bread franchisee companies.

Hamra Enterprises first stepped into the Boston market in 2000, taking over two under-performing cafés. It already had found success with several Panera Bread cafés in the Chicago area.

Hamra said he discovered the Boston opportunity through a friendship with Rick Postal, who was president of Panera Bread when it was still called St. Louis Bread Co. Postal was vice president of operations of Wendy’s International in the 1970s and worked closely with Hamra’s Wendy’s of Missouri Inc.

“We knew it was going to be a financial obligation to develop that Boston market while at the same time we developed Chicago, but we felt it was worth the investment and worth the effort,” Hamra said.

Hamra Enterprises opened its first Boston café in February 2001.

Revenues in the Boston cafés have grown from $18.5 million in 2003 to $33 million in 2005. Against its peers, Boston Bread has fared just as well. The average net sales for each of Boston Bread’s cafés is $2.4 million, above the $1.85 million in sales all franchisee-owned cafés averaged in 2003, the most recent year available on Panera’s Web site.

Hamra Enterprises plans to add three cafés in Boston this year, which fulfills its franchise agreement of 17 cafés.

Mike Hamra said witnessing the success of other people in the organization drives him. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree: “We’re enjoying it so much working with people and seeing their happiness when they achieve their goals,” said the elder Hamra. “It all permeates from the top down.

“The key is to be sure you surround yourself with competent people. We are pleased with the staff of 40 people here in Springfield. They are very hard working, very supportive and they just do a great job for us. We all work as a team.”[[In-content Ad]]