Dallas Couple Signs To Bring Four Paris Baguette Units to the Community

Rahul and April Rai are no strangers to business ownership, or even the food service space. Over a decade ago, the two teamed up to open an independent restaurant after deciding entrepreneurship would be an ideal career pathway. After venturing into a few other industries and opening a retail franchise, the two began considering expansion within the franchise space.

Paris Baguette* had long stood out to the pair due to its quality and similarity to the pastries they experienced when traveling in Europe. After finding out it was a franchised business, the pair considered the opportunity and ultimately inquired. Now, they have signed for four units in the Dallas Fort Worth area, and the first is set to open at Arlington Highlands, 4000 Five Points Blvd, Suite 101, Arlington, Texas later this year.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Rahul: Before starting any of the businesses, I did a degree in hotel management in India, and later went to college at the University of California Riverside. I had the opportunity to do an internship at Walt Disney World in Florida and after my 6 months were finished, I ended up coming to Dallas to be close to April, who was living and working in Dallas.

To begin, we started our first business at the age of 24. It was a restaurant and sports bar. We did everything ourselves - built the restaurant, prepared menus, made recipes and did the marketing. We were probably one of the first ones to introduce, at that time, iPads for taking orders. It was fairly new in the restaurant industry to use such technology. It was 2010-12, and the market had still not completely recovered from the recession.  We were not able to sustain the business and realized this was probably not the best time to be in the restaurant industry.  That was our first business experience. 

During that time when we were still running the restaurant, we took another risk and opened another business. That was retail. Since then, we’ve been doing retail business.  Then four years ago, we started a transportation company and are managing this too. In the past few years, we started looking for different opportunities to see what more businesses we could start. We were doing research about different franchises.  Paris Baguette was something that we weren’t looking into but came across. We were customers first. 

We were always looking for some other bakery that could be making something like the Paris Baguette pastries. We kept on going to Paris Baguette for a long time. We had conversations about whether it was independently run or a franchise concept. Since then, the brand was always in the back of our heads.

I reached out before COVID, and at that time, we were still thinking about it. During COVID, we didn't want to do any new ventures. Almost two years later, I emailed again and asked to start the process. It just was one of those things. We kept on thinking about different business ventures and even went to a few different franchisees to meet them but could not move forward after our due diligence process.

At that moment, Paris Baguette kept coming back on the table and we carefully started to do research as it was a very tough decision to go back into the restaurant business, but we discovered and started to believe it will be a successful model as long as we operate it correctly.

April: We started the restaurant back in 2010. At that time, I was also working full-time at Lockheed Martin as a software engineer.  I started my career with Lockheed Martin in 2005 as an intern and then joined full-time in 2007 after I graduated from the University of Texas Arlington with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering.  I worked for 17+ years at Lockheed Martin while helping run our businesses.  When we started the transportation company, I went part-time with Lockheed Martin to focus on our own businesses until I decided to leave in 2021. 

I have always loved the entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve always enjoyed doing the business side and working for myself rather than for someone else. Of course, Lockheed Martin is a great company that has done so much for my career, but I just wanted to move forward and start these new ventures.

Throughout the years, we would vacation in Europe, and always loved going to local bakeries and coffee shops.  When we got back to the states, we would look for the same European-style bakery but didn’t find any until we stepped foot into Paris Baguette.  There’s nothing else like Paris Baguette in America that I’ve experienced. It brought the European feel and taste of pastries to the states. We’ve had a great experience with Paris Baguette so far, and we’re confident that the franchise model will be successful in the DFW area and all across America.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Rahul: The retail stores we have are a franchise so we are familiar with the franchise system and the business model. 

Number one thing to me is the product. The product has to be really good, and the demand has to be there. If the product that customers are consuming is not that good, it doesn’t matter how good of a system you have. 

However, you can have the best product in the world, but if you don’t have a good team to sell it and present it, it doesn’t matter. Those two strengths go hand in hand. Paris Baguette has a great team of professionals that do just that.

April: I would want people to know that there will be a lot of growing and learning at the same time especially if it’s their first time. They should be prepared for that time investment.  Also, don’t skip your homework.  Make sure the franchisor has a proven track record of success, a strong support team, and strong financials.  Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions or to seek answers.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Rahul: We picked the brand because the consistency and quality of the product stands out. It’s a bakery. Whether you buy a Paris Baguette pastry in California, Kansas or here, they all taste the same and presentation of the product is also consistent.

The stores themselves, the design, ambiance … It’s modern and comfortable. Everything just looks beautiful.

April: We are foodies. We’ve been to many bakeries in DFW, but there’s nothing like Paris Baguette, a European-style bakery that actually tastes European. All of the other bakeries we’ve tried have a store-bought taste or lack the same quality.  Every time you go into a Paris Baguette, everything is freshly baked, smells so good and is so beautifully crafted.  

If you believe the saying that we eat with our eyes as well as our mouths as true, you’ll definitely fall in love with the food and the Paris Baguette brand.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Rahul: We’re about to finish executing the lease for the first location which will be in the Arlington Highlands complex in Arlington, Texas.  We are already in negotiations for a second location and we have not even opened the first location yet. It will be located in Mansfield, TX on Broad Street as a ground-up build that we hope to have open some time during the 3rd quarter of next year.  We are actively looking for spaces in Allen, TX and McKinney, TX.  After we open our four locations, we are looking forward to opening 2 to 3 locations every year until we reach our goal. 

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Rahul: April and I are both first-generation immigrants. April’s father is a Navy veteran, and she was born in the Philippines. She came to the U.S.A. as a 3-year-old little girl. We have met with our own challenges.  For me, I came to the U.S. as a student, after finishing my education and internship it was very difficult trying to find a job and deciding what to do for work. In 2010, those were very hard times for me right after college when I was ready for the next chapter of my life. I am glad it was not easy because it challenged me to think outside the box and take on the challenge to work for myself and start a business.

Starting a business was very challenging in the beginning, but the challenges just made me more determined to succeed. Having a challenging environment at that time helped me become better at doing business with time. 

April was in line with my vision and helped me every step of the way.  Together we started our business journey which brought us where we are today as entrepreneurs.  After all that we have achieved in the past decade, Today it feels like we are just getting started. This is the beginning of something big and we are ready for it. 

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Rahul: If you’re someone with less experience, franchising is the best way to go. The franchisor can guide you and do things for you, but you cannot think that they’re going to do it all for you. The model has been made, but you still have to do the work; you don’t just put money in and start getting a return.. 

In addition to your investment, you also have to put in lots of hard work to make it a success.

April: If you love the brand, the product and what they’re doing, take the leap of faith. If you miss the boat, you miss the boat. In this case, we don't want to miss the boat.

ABOUT PARIS BAGUETTE: 

Paris Baguette is a bakery café franchise with more than 4,000 units across the globe. The brand first franchised in the U.S. in 2015 and has since established nearly 150 locations in markets across the country, making it one of the premier franchise opportunities in its category. Paris Baguette’s primary mission, executed every day by its expert staff of bakers, cakers and baristas, is to share moments of joy with customers and help customers share moments of joy with their friends and family by providing world-class cakes, pastries, coffees, breads and other French-inspired bakery café fare. For more information, please visit parisbaguette.com/franchising/.