Einstein Bros. Tests Cincinnati Blueprint to Fuel 100 Openings by 2026
Einstein Bros. pilots a redesigned store format in Cincinnati, separating counter ordering from digital pickup, with a sequenced rollout targeting about 100 new units by the end of 2026.
Photo by Taton Moïse on Unsplash
A Pilot With Purpose
Cincinnati steps onto the national stage as Einstein Bros.’ chosen crucible, a city where morning habits are observed with the rigor of a chef testing a new service. The company is reshaping its footprint so that digital convenience is not an afterthought but a visible promise: a clear divide between counter ordering and pickup shelves, each lane marked as distinctly as cutlery arranged at a well-laid table. The brief is unambiguous—simplify choices for guests while giving employees a choreography they can repeat with confidence—and the tempo is brisk. A deadline sharpens the knife. The brand intends to open “about 100” new stores “by the end of 2026,” a scale that demands not just aesthetics but repeatable execution. The Cincinnati pilot is therefore less a sketch and more a dress rehearsal, designed to validate whether the layout can hold up under everyday traffic before it becomes the default for expansion. In effect, the company is declaring that the ritual of the morning can be both efficient and gracious, if the room is set with intention.
Why Shift Now
Recent performance patterns offer a quiet but persuasive rationale for the redesign. The franchised system added “seven” units in “2024,” while the company-operated side grew by “23” units in “2024.” At the same time, the licensed division—those situated within large retailers—contracted by “30” units in “2023” and “15” in “2024.” The movement is unmistakable: lean into franchised and company-operated growth; step back from formats that do not fit the evolving brief. In this context, a dual-mode store becomes a strategic lever rather than a decorative flourish. The brand needs a format that carries the same grammar across markets—one that honors a straightforward counter experience while elevating digital pickup to a first-class line. This standardized layout can become a common playbook for new builds and select remodels, easing training burdens and smoothing variability across different ownership structures. Like a well-drilled brigade in a kitchen, the system is shifting its weight to the stations that matter most.
Design As Operational Tool
The renderings are unambiguous: guests who wish to order at the counter follow one clearly marked path, while those collecting digital orders are guided to designated pickup shelves. This is not interior design as ornament; it is a map that reduces ambiguity at the door and friction at the counter. For employees, the separation creates predictable handoffs, minimizing the tangle that happens when walk-in and mobile orders compete for the same counter space. The pickup shelves serve as a signal as much as a destination. By making the digital handoff visible, Einstein Bros. acknowledges that a swift, legible end to the transaction is part of the hospitality. The approach aligns with a wider sector pattern—consider how redesigned coffeehouses have carved out discrete risers for mobile orders—suggesting that this is no eccentric flourish, but the emerging norm. The wager is elegant in its simplicity: when both paths are legible, both can move without colliding.
Inside The Cincinnati Pilot
The Cincinnati remodels are structured as a controlled test bed, the kind a meticulous operator uses to separate aspiration from reality. By piloting the physical layout alongside process tweaks, the company can watch how the two streams behave under pressure: the counter-service guest who wants a straightforward exchange, and the digital guest who simply wants to retrieve and go. The inquiry is pragmatic—where does the model speed service, where does it add friction, and which knobs require adjustment before the format travels. A clear sequence frames the ambition. “Starting next year,” all new units will include the “Elevate the Morning” design template, with some remodels adopting it as well. That timing is strategic: learn in Cincinnati; apply quickly to new builds and select existing locations; then scale. It is a chef’s mise en place, thoughtfully arranged to ensure the rush can be met without improvisation undermining consistency.
Clarity In Service Flows
At the heart of the redesign is the separation of flows—a simple mechanic with outsized consequences. Guests who prefer the traditional ritual follow a singular path to the counter, untroubled by the crosscurrents of mobile traffic. Digital guests, meanwhile, move straight to pickup shelves where their orders are staged, visible and organized. The effect is to reduce decisions at the threshold and all but eliminate the backtracking that so often makes mornings feel crowded. For employees, the cadence becomes teachable and auditable. Orders bound for pickup shelves advance along a defined path, keeping the final handoff orderly and distinct from the counter’s conversational rhythm. The company frames design as process: zones that guide behavior and turn peaks into sequences that can be trained and replicated. It is the sort of discipline that respects both the guest’s time and the team’s craft, restoring a sense of calm to the rush hour’s choreography.
A Sequenced Rollout With Backing
As part of Panera Brands, Einstein Bros. is mooring its near-term development to a uniform design system that gives equal respect to in-person ordering and digital pickup. The playbook is explicit: validate regionally, then scale nationally. With “Elevate the Morning” as the standard and pilots to refine operational rhythms, the company is aligning design, operations, and development so rollout follows proof rather than the other way around. The timeline underscores commitment. The target of “about 100” new openings “by the end of 2026” dovetails with the pilot phase, creating a runway for testing, iteration, and replication once the format is proven. It is the corporate equivalent of a chef locking in a recipe before adding it to the permanent menu—ensuring that when it travels, it tastes the same from one kitchen to the next.
Reading The Breakfast Market
In the coffee and breakfast sector, digital ordering has shifted from novelty to necessity. Einstein Bros.’ new format reflects this by giving mobile and online pickup a prominent, physical stage, while preserving a straightforward counter experience for those who prefer to order in person. The dual emphasis echoes a broader pattern in which operators carve out dedicated mobile handoff spaces, enabling both service modes to run in parallel rather than in conflict. For a system adding franchised and company-operated units and contracting licensed sites, a standardized, dual-mode layout is more than aesthetic harmony—it is operational pragmatism. Consistent training, clear throughput, and reduced variability across store types become achievable when the room’s geography tells everyone where to go and what to do. The result is a morning service that feels composed: a quiet assurance that whichever path a guest chooses, it has been considered fully.
Knowns, Unknowns, And A Lesson
The contours are clear: a controlled pilot in Cincinnati, a standard template in “Elevate the Morning,” and a development horizon that leaves little room for ambiguity. Yet some measures remain unstated—the exact operational metrics for success, the number of remodels in the test, or the precise process changes beyond flow separation and pickup shelves. It is also not specified how the contraction in licensed locations will interact with the new design over time. Such gaps are typical of pilots, where the canvas is still being primed. What matters now is the demonstration. If the Cincinnati test shows that the layout and associated processes can serve both digital and traditional modes without compromise, Einstein Bros. will have a blueprint ready to scale—with “about 100” new stores slated “by the end of 2026.” The lesson is quietly elegant: design is a tool of operations, not mere décor. When a room makes choices legible, it dignifies both the ritual of ordering and the urgency of pickup. Clarity, in the morning especially, is a form of hospitality—one that turns parallel lines of demand into a single, composed experience.