COFFEE MATES

“You’re the second customer to mention this,” said one incredulous Pret manager. “It would be a good thing and I’d be very appreciative, but we haven’t been informed yet.”

A manager at a second Pret store said he expected to deliver the good news to his workers at a 6:30 a.m. staff meeting on Wednesday.

Of course, layoffs and cutbacks are more commonly as- sociated with mergers. A bonus paid to all workers is not often the case — if ever.

“A bonus paid to all employees as part of an acquisition is rare in the world of restaurant M&A,” said consultant Aaron Allen. The bonus is worth about $16 million.

“I would suspect it was listed as a condition of the sale by Pret to JAB for all the hard work its people made to growing the business,” Allen added.

When word gets out about the bonus, Pret will have a competitive advantage in attracting top talent at a time when employment is tight in the restaurant industry.

“Pret has an opportunity to have access to a wider pool of applicants for a short period of time and during that time can pick the very best of the best to become employees for them,” restaurant analyst Mark Kal- inowski told The Post.

Founded in 1983, Pret is now owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital.

At least one Pret employee is hoping the bonus isn’t the last piece of good news coming out of the deal.

“We are waiting to see what changes will come,” said one manager. “We were promised that Pret policies will not change.”