Paris Baguette North America opened 12 net new stores in the second quarter | Photo credit: Paris Baguette North America

Paris Baguette North America has credited sustained outlet growth and the success of its neighbourhood-store revamp programme for driving strong second quarter sales. 
 

Owned by South Korean food and beverage giant SPC Group, Paris Baguette began operations in the US in 2005 and entered Canada in March 2023 with a store in Toronto. 

The licensee achieved double-digit quarter-on-quarter revenue growth and opened 12 net new stores in the three months ending 30 June 2024 – twice as many as the previous quarter.  

Paris Baguette opened its first stores in the US states of Utah, Washington and Minnesota in the second quarter to reach 170 outlets across 23 US states and has a further six sites in Canada. 

According to a press release, Paris Baguette North America has a further 70 locations in various stages of development and expects to open a further 50 stores by the end of the year. 

“We continue to be in a very strong position. We have rapid expansion underway across North America and we’re excited about the results we’ve seen thus far,” said Darren Tipton, CEO, Paris Baguette North America. 

In January 2022, Paris Baguette North America began rolling out a new store format and updated branding to re-position itself as a neighbourhood café concept in the US. 

Tipton said the company’s French-inspired cafés, which include large open floorspaces and prominent 360-degree bakery displays, are proving popular with US consumers ‘yearning for the nostalgic return of the local neighbourhood bakery café in their community’. 

“It’s an incredibly exciting time for us. No one else is doing what we’re doing. We’re re-establishing the neighbourhood bakery café as the heart of the community throughout North America, and we’ll continue to do that as we push to expand through Central and South America,” he added. 

In April 2024, Paris Baguette North America announced plans to find a master franchise partner to facilitate its launch in Mexico. The bakery-café chain also plans to open its first stores on the US island territories of Guam and Puerto Rico before the end of the year. 

Founded in Seoul in 1988, Paris Baguette currently operates 3,750 stores in South Korea and more than 500 outlets across 11 international markets.