Paris Baguette Finishes Third Quarter Strong, Set To Finish the Year With 130 Units Open

Paris Baguette, the bakery café franchise with more than 4,000 units globally, is rounding out the third quarter on track to meet its annual growth goal — all in line with the longer-term 1,000 U.S. unit goal. In Q3, Paris Baguette opened 7 new stores, a 71% growth rate over Q2, and inked 32 new signings, bringing the total number of signings year-to-date to 102. 

“We’re just rocking and rolling along, right on plan,” explained Mark Mele, chief development officer for Paris Baguette. “Sales, lease signings and openings are all right on target.”

As the brand grows, Mele notes its authenticity and commitment to high-quality baked goods as key differentiators. Despite price hikes across the sector thanks to inflation, Paris Baguette has kept its prices steady without compromising quality.

“Our store-level gross revenues are way up, and customer count is also up,” he said. The brand was recently recognized on Franchise Times’ Top 500 list, sitting at number 25 thanks to its high systemwide sales.

While some businesses report increased revenues, the customer count is actually down, indicating that price hikes are the driver of published revenue numbers. For Paris Baguette, this is not the case. 

The brand keeps its “fresh baked” mission close to heart, providing the high-quality baked goods guests love at reasonable prices. As the brand expands into new markets, this attribute will certainly help it to stand out.

“What we have, a true bakery café, is something that no one else is doing,” Mele explained. “There are a lot of cafés or bakeries that supposedly would make their products fresh in the past, but they have shifted toward more of an eatery model — some have even taken ‘bakery’ out of their names! We want to bake bread, pastries and cakes fresh every day, and the passion makes the product absolutely great. That’s a key differentiator.”

Looking forward, Mele says the brand is targeting further expansion as it works to meet its goal for openings.

The total investment to franchise with Paris Baguette ranges from $528,270 and $1,638,554, including a $50,000 franchise fee. For more information, please visit https://parisbaguette.com/franchising/.