Levendary Café was born as a small soup, salad and sandwich restaurant. Under the direction of former CEO Howard Leventhal, who stood behind Levendary’s vision of “delighting the customer”, the restaurant was transformed into a multi-billion dollar firm comprised of 3,500 cafés nationwide. Leventhal stated that “Its wholesome soups, salads, and sandwiches using high quality ingredients, and a commitment to service in a comfortable, friendly, environment distinguished Levendary Café from other quick casual restaurants.”
Although Leventhal had done remarkably well with Levendary’s domestic expansion, analysts were concerned with the lack of future domestic endeavors and sought to expand on a global level. Levendary soon identified China as
In the U.S., the turkey sandwich and cheese soup were biggest sellers. While these items were meeting the needs of consumers in the U.S. market, the same could not be said for the Chinese market.

Louis Chen recognized the need to “respond to the distinctive features of local and regional markets to achieve the best results.” While a few of the 23 locations in China were developed to mimic the menu, service standards and ambience of their U.S. counterparts, Chen pursued high levels of customization in others. For instance, in the 2nd established China location in the Yu Garden area of Shanghai, Chen opted for a takeaway counter rather than Levendary’s customary comfortable seating areas found in the U.S. locations. In the 4th café located near the Forbidden City in Beijing, seating was offered to customers; however, Chen fitted the establishment with plastic framed chairs produced by a local furniture supplier as opposed to the classic wooden framed upholstered chairs used in the U.S.

Chen not only customized the environment of the café’s but also their menus. In the 4th café, Levendary’s signature salads were not offered and in the 23rd location in a suburb of Shanghai , only one