Although Song doesn't have much professional bakery experience, she hasn't allowed that to deter her. "I believe in the brand and the products that they're offering, so I wanted to take the chance and invest in four stores," she says.
Nonetheless, Song pulls her talents from a diverse portfolio. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2005 with the intention of going to medical school. However, upon realizing that medicine wasn't her calling, she decided to go back to school and acquired an MBA in finance and accounting from Regis University. In 2013, she opened her own clothing boutique in Aurora.
"I wore a lot of hats and filled in when needed," Song says. "I did everything from operations, ordering, marketing and merchandise display. It also gave me a lot of experience interacting with customers."
Song's interest in Paris Baguette was sparked years ago when she visited New York to see family and they decided to try the new bakery that had popped up nearby. Seeing how "everything was fresh-baked and community-focused" inspired her to open her own location, she says.
She was attending a business convention for her clothing store in Las Vegas when she found out that the bakery chain was expanding west. "I visited a Paris Baguette there every day. On the last day, I ran into the franchisee, and I mentioned that I wanted to open one in Colorado," Song recalls. "She gave me her business card and corporate contact, and one thing led to another, and we were able to acquire the franchise agreement for Colorado."
While preparing for the Aurora opening and subsequent locations is no easy task, Song says that she is excited to "share the pastries that [she] enjoyed eating and introduce them to the state of Colorado" on a larger scale.
Paris Baguette's latest expansion into Colorado is only one part of the brand's greater mission to bring back the idea of a neighborhood bakery across America. According to Mark Mele, the company's chief development officer, its ultimate goal is to "open a thousand locations across the U.S. by 2030."
In fact, Paris Baguette currently has 135 locations open, with another seventy in various stages of construction. By the end of 2023, the bakery cafe will be operating in 34 states. Technomic also recently ranked Paris Baguette as one of the top six fastest-growing restaurant brands.
However, Paris Baguette remains committed to the notion of staying connected to the community. Mele states that the company "looks at and talks to prospective franchisees that are passionate about the particular area that they live in, passionate about that neighborhood." He adds, "Part of [Paris Baguette's] core values is nourishing the community. It starts by finding the right franchisee, who understands that and wants to spread joy throughout the community."
Paris Baguette also serves savory items like sandwiches and salads, as well as Lavazza coffee.
Paris Baguette
Like Song, many of the prospective owners of Paris Baguette locations have some form of financial experience, even if they don't have direct bakery backgrounds. This is no problem, as Mele explains that "they will hire a general manager and a team that has worked in the space before." All of the staff members and owner also receive Paris Baguette training to make sure that they are "delivering a clean, beautiful cafe every day to the guests," he adds.
Each Paris Baguette location operates under what Mele refers to as the "3.0 prototype." At the end of 2019, the company met with focus groups and assembled the prototype based on feedback it received in regard to what participants wanted to see in a bakery and cafe. "3.0 is all about what you feel and smell when you walk into the cafe, and we wanted more theater than anything else," Mele says.
By theater, Mele is referring to the transparent aspect of the bakery, which highlights how each of the products are made from scratch. Before guests walk into the bakery, they're treated to a view of the cake area through the windows up front, where bakers decorate and box cakes. Inside of the cafe, guests can see the open bakery inside of a space that is designed with the charm of a European cafe in mind.
"When you walk in, you'll be able to line a tray with wax paper, and you'll put your product on the tray with either tongs or a smaller piece of wax paper. You hand-pick your treats yourself," Mele explains. "That's something we do different. You're treated to that experience."
This combination of a community-focused, freshly baked and transparent experience is something that has worked remarkably well for Paris Baguette in Colorado. "The [location] in Parker is absolutely amazing. They're doing record sales there. I don't want to say it's unbelievable — it is believable — but it's just amazing," Mele notes.
Aside from her location in Aurora, Song will open an outpost in Colorado Springs in 2024. Her other two other locations are still to be determined, but given the rapid expansion plans of Paris Baguette, it's safe to say that Coloradans can keep their eyes peeled for a location nearby soon.
