Panda Express homeownership is emerging as a priority for the fast-casual chain’s founders, who say they want to help employees reach the American dream alongside the company’s growth.
“I always believe that when you do well, you know, personally, then you can go out and take care of other people,” said Andrew Cherng, who co-founded Panda Express with his wife, Peggy Cherng. “You want people to do well. And you want to treat them well.”
Andrew Cherng said he gauges progress by how many managers earn at least $100,000 a year and whether they can purchase homes, which he views as a measure of his own success.
That goal has grown harder nationwide in the past decade as homeownership has slipped out of reach for many middle-class households. With a limited supply of homes, mortgage rates around 6.8 percent and record prices in some cities, affordability remains strained.
Census data show immigrant families are less likely to be homeowners than families headed by U.S.-born residents. Researchers cite factors such as limited job and income opportunities, language barriers and uneven access to banking and credit.
The Cherngs say they see their own experience reflected in many employees. “Most of our associates are first-generation immigrants,” Peggy Cherng said.
Andrew Cherng was born in China and came to the United States in 1966 after growing up in Taiwan and Japan. Peggy Cherng was born in Myanmar and raised in Hong Kong.
The pair met at the University of Missouri and opened the first Panda Express in 1983 in Glendale, California, as a casual counterpart to Panda Inn, the full-service restaurant Andrew launched with his father in the early 1970s.
They say that immigrant perspective still shapes how they lead, with a focus on investing in employees whom they describe as an extended family.
Today Panda Express is the largest Asian restaurant chain in the United States, with more than 2,500 locations in 49 states and restaurants in 12 countries. The privately held company employs about 55,000 people and generates roughly 7 billion dollars in annual sales, according to market research firm Technomic.
For Andrew Cherng, that performance is rooted in the frontline workforce. “How do we help these people to have a better life? That’s our mission,” he said in an interview at company headquarters outside Los Angeles.
Peggy Cherng added, “Our mission, our calling, is how we are able to help more associates realize their American dream, establish their business, their career, but most importantly, mark that accomplishment by owning a home.”
Panda Express homeownership as a measure of success
Despite the challenges facing first-time buyers, Andrew Cherng said he encourages employees to focus on what is achievable. “We actually help everybody to think about owning a home very quickly,” he said.
He noted that many new managers initially view the role as just another job rather than a long-term path. Managers “have to do a lot of things,” he said. “We teach them [those skills], but to have a good life, you turn that person from being sort of ‘task-based’ to ‘life-based.’”
He said that shift often gives employees a stronger sense of purpose that extends to caring for others and their communities. “We get people to see that quickly and see it clearly,” he said.
Community concerns over housing access, safety and long-term stability have also been sharpened in regions facing natural disasters, such as areas hit by the recent Hawaii mudslide that destroyed homes on the Big Island.