Paris Baguette Sees a Big Future in a Small Footprint

While the lessons of the 2020 pandemic for restaurants are still being sorted out, bakery café franchise Paris Baguette demonstrated that nimble, small-footprint restaurants and laser-focused menus are breaking away from the pack. 

An international brand with 4,000 locations worldwide, Paris Baguette came to the U.S. about 10 years ago with an established and enthusiastic fan base. Since then, it has established nearly 100 locations in markets across the U.S., steadily becoming one of the premier franchise opportunities in the bakery café category.

But last year, when the restaurant industry had perhaps the most challenging year in history, Paris Baguette emerged as one of the best bets in franchising. It launched 15 U.S. locations, on its way to reach 1,000 units across the U.S. by 2030. Currently, Paris Baguette has nearly 90 stores in the U.S. with about 52 new locations in the construction pipeline.

“We are so proud to be thriving right now. It’s been a tough year for the industry, but I think we have been ahead of the curve in terms of creating the kinds of spaces that work for franchisees,” said Mark Mele, Paris Baguette’s chief development officer. “We offer flexible footprints along with a sharply focused menu. This allows our stores to go into a variety of different kinds of locations and serve our customers in a way that suits them best.”

Well before the pandemic, Paris Baguette married the quality of freshly made bakery items with efficient location sizes, which meant it was organically at the forefront of what’s become the hottest trend in restaurants.

“Paris Baguette is thriving in a time when other restaurants in our category seem to be having an identity crisis,” said Mele. “Watching our franchise partners do well is proof that we have a business model that works and one that our customers want, and that our growth will continue for the foreseeable future.” 

As other bakery chains bloated their menus or experimented with full-service stores, Paris Baguette held steady to its small store sizes, grab-and-go or dine in options, plus focused menus. 

This proved not only useful in times of dining room restrictions and social-distancing mandates, but it was simpler from an operational standpoint. Just look at the bottom-line numbers: according to the Franchise Disclosure Document, stores have a high average unit volume (AUV): $2,249,864. When compared against start-up costs ($709,193 - $1,386,292), Paris Baguette AUV gives franchisees a powerful return on investment. 

New Philadelphia franchise owner Jung Ahn thinks the Paris Baguettes model made more sense than other franchises he looked into. “I’ve researched the competitors and looked into their business models, and Paris Baguette is hands down the leader in the industry,” he said.  “We’re entering markets that haven’t been tapped before with this type of bakery café model.”

Leaders of Paris Baguette believe that its scale will continue to be a competitive advantage, particularly as its competitors seem to have lost focus as to who they are as a brand. Additionally, with labor prices and shortages, investors will think twice about moving into full-service restaurants that require not more upfront costs, but offer complex operational challenges. 

The total investment to franchise with Paris Baguette ranges from $709,193 to $1,386,292, including a $50,000 franchise fee. If you enter into an area development agreement, you must develop a minimum of four stores. For more information on franchising with Paris Baguette, please visit https://parisbaguettefamily.com/.