Father-Daughter Duo Celebrate a Year of Successful Operations, Bakery Dreams Coming True With Colorado’s First Paris Baguette

When Caroline Grubbs partnered with her father, Eric, to open the first Paris Baguette location in Colorado just over a year ago, she was fulfilling a long-time aspiration of owning a bakery. Though she spent time in other hospitality spaces in her early career, Caroline had long dreamed of running her own bakery thanks to fond memories of baking and decorating cakes with her mom and grandmother. Like many, she began considering a shift when the pandemic disrupted regular work, and this ultimately opened the door to the 4,000-plus-unit global bakery café franchise.

“I’m very familiar with the food industry, and when COVID happened, I started thinking about owning a business,” said Caroline. “We started looking into franchises, and Paris Baguette just fell in line through family, friends and word-of-mouth.”

“Caroline had always wanted a bakery, and when I was in school, they showed me that franchises have a better opportunity of success than an independent business,” Eric said. “I told Caroline that I’d only do a bakery if it was a franchise. Paris Baguette ended up being one of those things that we knew was meant to be. We were looking for a franchise, and lo and behold, here’s a bakery café franchise that’s expanding from east to west.”

While Paris Baguette met the Grubbs’ investment criteria, they quickly learned of other aspects of the business that only made it more attractive. For example, when Eric made his first trip to a Paris Baguette, he noted that guests use a tray to make their selections. Guests can browse the pastries on display then pick and choose what they’d like.  The café is architecturally designed for guests to eat with their eyes first.

“On my first trip and second visit, I spent over $100!” Eric remembered. I just wanted to try everything. The way you start on one side of the café and work your way through, adding all of the pastries to your tray, is great for the business model.”

Caroline added that Paris Baguette’s wide range of offerings, including pastries, cakes, breads, coffee, sandwiches, salads and more, was another major driver for their decision to invest. She was passionate about opening a bakery that would allow her to bring delicious, freshly made goods to the community, but the fact that Paris Baguette offered franchisees a proven business model was another selling point. “We didn’t see any other brands that could do all of these things under one umbrella,” she said.

The pair finalized their investment and began development in Parker, Colorado. As they prepared to open, the Grubbs followed Paris Baguette’s guidance, identifying prime real estate and leveraging the help of the support team to prepare for their first day of operations. As their projected opening day drew closer, excitement only grew.

Eric said they were “totally overwhelmed” by the amount of support they received and guests they served in their first two days of operations alone. Though this location was the first one in the state, he said that guests were aware, noting chatter on social media from people who already knew about the brand and excitement from local residents about the opening of a new establishment as unique as Paris Baguette.

When they opened, there were six employees at the bakery café; Caroline now manages 50. 

“One thing that has been really nice is that our Chamber of Commerce spread the word for us as well. That’s one thing that has helped us,” she said. “Now, we have people come play board games in the café, study, have meetings and connect with family.”

As they wrap up their first year of operations, the Grubbs are reflecting on a “tremendous” journey with the brand and considering expansion to additional locations in the future.

“We’ve been so overwhelmed with this cafe, we couldn’t think about much else. Caroline is doing a tremendous amount of sales, and holding on for that first year is a big job,” Eric said. “I do think, probably in about two or three years, it’ll be time for us to start thinking about adding in a second location.”

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://ownaparisbaguette.com or  https://1851franchise.com/parisbaguette.