The Mag
The Mag, here is another episode of Franchise Marketing Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today we have with us Mark Mele with Paris Baguette. Welcome, Mark.
Mark Mele
Hey, welcome. I'm happy to be here. Thanks so much.
The Mag
Well, I'm excited to learn what you're up to tell us a little bit about Paris Baguette how are you serving folks?
Mark Mele
So yeah, really cool. Paris Baguette was really born from this love of bread and passion. You know. So, we're, we're dealing with our guests in this wonderful fast-casual bakery space. Every day, there's cakes, pastries, sandwiches, salads, signature coffees, and a lot more. And it's really a true bakery. And everything is made fresh daily so that the guests just love it. When they when they're introduced to it. They've never seen anything like it. So really a really cool space to be in at this point in time.
The Mag
Can you talk a little bit about the genesis of the idea? How did it get started?
Mark Mele
Yeah, so it absolutely and it's really kind of a cool thing, how it did get started. You look at the family of brands that we that are behind us this this thing started in 1945 in Korea, and they started baking bread there to feed the masses. And they decided that after a short time of making this bread and fantastic bread, they thought well wait for a second here we are great good at producing bread, let's go into other areas, let's produce some treats. And they did so, and they did really well at it with croissants and pastries. So, throughout the years, they started to venture into different operating ideas. And in 1986 they formed a Paris croissant in the international brand in 1988.
A couple of years later, they formed Paris Baguette, and that first store opened in Korea. And then it quickly grew from Korea into the Chinese marketplaces in 2004. They opened markets in Shanghai, and then in 2005, they entered the US in Los Angeles and San Francisco and in 2011. The brand was growing so fast, it opened its 3 thousand stores in Korea. So, it's really picked up a lot of speed and presence globally. I think there's right now about 245, almost 300 in China. We have 94 locations in the US. We're kind of the weakling here in the US, but I'm on board to change that real quick.
The Mag
Yeah, there's a little bit of room to grow, I think in the US a little bit.
Mark Mele
Yeah, absolutely. Do you know what the concentration for us right now in the US is, we did a pretty good job of East Coast West Coast. And now we're filling in. In the center, we've got operations that are happening now in Utah and Phoenix and Denver, Dallas and Houston and Austin, Miami, Orlando, Virginia. So, you see, we're filling in Chicago, we've got five stores open. So, it's really happening, our goal really is to get 1000 units in 10 years or less. And that's what was exciting for me in joining the company. And I've been on for 100 and about 120 days now so I'm kind of the new executive to the team but it's a brand-new executive team and we've got a big vision and a big plan and we're gonna execute on that plan. It's very exciting.
The Mag
Now for folks who aren't familiar, what is kind of the look and feel of the store? Is it kind of a sit down where you go and have coffee and dessert or is it kind of grab and go what’s the model?
Mark Mele
Yeah, so it's, it's interesting, and especially, you know, in COVID times, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's evolved into grab and go right, because of limited seating and so forth, but, and we're starting to see some of those things open back up again, but you know, really what we'd like to see is the cafe setting where people are coming in, they're sitting there enjoying their coffee, they're enjoying their fresh-baked product, whatever it is, whether it's a pastry, a croissant that they get a sandwich, fresh-made salad, we gather coming in, they're sitting in the cafe.
They whether it's inside or outside and just enjoying what it is that we offer a big portion of what we do too is not just in COVID times but the grab and go. It does extremely well during the morning hours and whether it's a sandwich or whether it's a breakfast sandwich for a lunch sandwich, but the cake business is really strong for us we have especially cakes and other people are lining up to get the cakes especially around the holidays too so you're selling the real.
The Mag
Yeah, you're selling whole cakes and slices as well or so I can go there and get a birthday cake for somebody.
Mark Mele
absolutely yeah whole cakes, slices you know it's very you look at it and if you've never been to a store, you just go online and look at the products are absolutely amazing that was that that would in itself get you out to the store when you see the fresh products because everything's made fresh. There's no you're not looking at preservatives you're not looking at you know just a cake that you would buy in a grocery store that's been sitting there for a few days these are made daily and they're made a lot of them are made to order you put input in your order and you come to pick it up same day or the next day. You know there's a lot of the stuff that's in the store the bakers get in very early to bake the fresh products the caterers get in and they're making the cakes daily sandwich maker salad makers so it's really where we're more than a bakery cafe concept but we just we've been doing this for years so we're really experts at it.
The Mag
So now what about from the franchisee standpoint? What does that ideal franchisee look like for you guys?
Mark Mele
Yeah, the ideal franchisee obviously, we want them to have a business background, great financial, wherewith all if they've been in a restaurant space, that's wonderful. We at least want the operating partner one of the operating partners if it's multiple partners to have restaurant space experience so they can understand what the front of the house and back of the house is all about and how to organize and how to run it. You know, I think we're especially good at from a training perspective and operations perspective of getting the brand-new franchisee and their team on board and up to speed not only from a real estate perspective, but all the way through from a training perspective and then operations and then of course, once we transition them to opening, we're there to support them as well. There's really a lot of support. I think today too, it's really important for us to grow each marketplace and the way that we really want to do that is through multi-unit franchising.
So we're appealing right now to a lot of the fast-casual brands and for franchisees that have those other brands that want to fill in their portfolio with a bakery space franchise there's not you know, fortunately for us, there are some competitors, but not a lot of them are some of the competitors over time that we're in the bakery space have gotten out of the bakery, they're the local bakers and bakeries that we knew as, as children in our neighborhoods, those are all but gone and now Paris to get is kind of filling that void. So, it's kind of cool to see that happening.
The Mag
How does this work? Well as a complementary brand, if I have said a bunch of pizza places or a bunch of chicken places this can help fill my portfolio? Or does it work better with some folks than others?
Mark Mele
Well, I think, you know, that's a really good question. And I think I think I would answer it this way in a couple of different ways. So you know, you could have different food brands in your portfolio and certainly, they're run independently so I think it is a compliment in you know, in a way from an investment perspective to your portfolio, you know, there are brands that you know, we could run side by side with if you have other brands and you're doing an in a non-traditional setting, let's call it a and you've seen it before when you go to a stadium or you're going into an airport where you see different smaller locations to accommodate the space we'll call them non-traditional spaces, we could go side by side with a different type of franchise whether they're serving you know, for meals and then we are the bakery so they can so the customer can enjoy the breakfast.
Now we can compliment that way as well. Or pick up a cake or slice a cake to your earlier point you can get a slice of cake while you're waiting for your flight. So, we'll see more of that. But I think from a portfolio standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to diversify.
The Mag
So now as you kind of attack 2021 are you seen kind of pretty aggressive growth? Are you seeing people hungry for this product? Literally and figuratively?
Mark Mele
Yeah, great, great points. Yeah, we are this Matter of fact, we've been so busy here at the tail end of 2020. With everyone feeling so optimistic about 2021 and beyond and vaccines and so forth, a lot of our franchisees that were sitting back and you know, feeling the pandemic, really, in their sales started to grow pretty aggressively during this time period. They looked at their own portfolio, some of the multi-unit franchisees that we had, and they said, you know what, it's time to go out and get good real estate deals now, they came to us are signing more franchise agreements, even corporately, we're expanding, we're going into new markets corporately, we own and operate 35 of these from a corporate perspective.
So, we're aggressively going out and we'll open more units this year as well. Just to give you an example, we'll execute more franchise agreements in the first quarter than we did all of last year. And we had a pretty decent year from franchise signings last year we executed 15 brand new franchise agreements in a COVID year we opened up 14 new locations and this year we have already we've signed year to date so far in the quarters you know still happening we've got 27 franchise agreements that are executed right now so it's the people are coming back for more that had an existing location they want more and they're taking advantage of what they see with a brand new executive team coming in and are you know we're marching to the beat of that 1000 units in 10 years or less is what we want to have open in lifestyle centers, traditional locations more traditional locations for Paris Baguette.
The Mag
Now does it play well with the delivery that third-party delivery companies or is this something that it's just kind of a pickup in curbside?
Mark Mele
Now it's been playing well in you know, just like many companies pivoted towards pickup and I've seen it firsthand when I started back in November with the company I was actually going through the training program as if I were a new franchisee and I worked in the back of the house at five different locations in and around Manhattan and our offices the headquarters is located in New Jersey so it just made sense for me to work in the New Jersey and the Manhattan locations but I was able to see firsthand how the pickup and delivery systems were working with door dash and some other companies and it's pretty cool you know the customers are ordering online you see the receipts are coming out of the POS systems.
And then you have separate people within the organization within the bakery itself they're pulling these orders to getting them ready they have a special area for pickup and it's really this whole thing has evolved in a matter of months and I think I think that's a cool part you know it's changed for a lot of businesses out there and the brands that figured it out I think you're gonna do it quite well going forward doesn't mean we're not going to have inside service It doesn't mean we're not going to be able to have our guests sit outside and enjoy Paris Baguette but you know that statement is so true that you know this pivot was kind of the keyword for 2020 and I think our brand did it really well. So yeah, pickup is working really good and mobile app and things of this nature it's just what now you know, it's just the expectation from the consumers there so you have to be able to accommodate them
The Mag
And then it may have accelerated some of those changes and then I think some of them are gonna stick moving forward, right?
Mark Mele
And all they most definitely well and I think you know, you see some of the other brands doing it as well with we're experimenting now should we move towards you know, drive-throughs and we've got a couple of tests in place right now that we're looking at and what's that look like? How many different ways can we serve the customer and so it may be a little tricky for us because it is big, fresh daily, everything that we have in the store of all the all the products I think there's total of almost 140 products that we have that are the majority of them are made and baked fresh every day. So, it's once the customer understands what we have, and you know what they enjoy receiving, I think it becomes easier for us to determine how to deliver that in a fashion where they still were not sacrificing quality and you know, they still have an opportunity to get what their expectations are still high, and we satisfy them.
The Mag
So now was there any challenge having an international kind of foundation and then moving into America? From a cultural standpoint? Was that something that was helpful? Was that something that had to be navigated a little bit?
Mark Mele
Well, I think from a development standpoint, not certainly from an experience standpoint, from you know, consumer standpoint when you have such a high-quality product In so many ways, you know, hitting the marketplace doesn't matter, you walk into the bakery and you're like, You're, you're blown away. This is fantastic. So there certainly wasn't a challenge there. I think from a, I think from a growth perspective expansion perspective, it was, okay where are we going to do well best in, you know, what, what type of market and I think the non-traditional type markets were, first experimented with and we were very, very successful, they're in non-traditional locations.
And that is, in a lot of cases, you know, you'll find a Paris Baguette, it will be located in an Asian shopping center, you'll see some of the H Mart's or 99 Ranch, Xi'an market different places where it's where you have a large concentration of the Asian Americans coming in for the grocery stores that are there, and then you'll see the Paris Baguette bakery as well. But we prove also now in a very short period of time that from the franchise agreements that we're executing and from the new stores that have opened in the past couple of years that the traditional locations, the lifestyle centers, the prime real estate around the country, more eyes are on the Paris Baguette brand in, that's what's going to accelerate growth.
The franchise agreements that we're signing today are just that these are the lifestyle centers, and you know, it's amazing how many people are being exposed to the product now. And that's, that's really what's gonna happen. In give us the accelerant that we need to pull ahead in the marketplace, you know, it's, for us, it’s concentric development, we'll plant maybe open one unit in a brand-new market, like maybe Columbus, Ohio, or, or Nashville, Tennessee. And when people see that premium prime location in the Lifestyle Center, then it becomes Okay, this is fantastic. How do I get one? And where do I get one? And, you know, let's build around it.
So, we do concentric development, we've essentially mapped out the whole US and as far as the best markets for Paris Baguette. Now we're just waiting, you know, because we're franchise concept, we're waiting for qualified individuals to come to us and say, this is fantastic. You guys have strong average unit volumes you have, you know, just it just makes sense for so many reasons to be involved. But yeah, it's, it's, we have figured it out. And that's what the team that we've assembled here, at the corporate office in my team, from a development perspective, we really get it. So, it's, it's going well.
The Mag
So, then you're planting kind of corporate locations in areas you want to target and expand into.
Mark Mele
Yeah, that's exactly right. So, I gave you the two examples with Nashville and Columbus, and this year alone, we'll go, we're looking at we've targeted Tampa, we still want to develop some here in we think New Jersey is very underserved. And it's right in our backyard, it's right here. So, there's some super-hot markets that we think could just gonna explode. And you know, the density here in New Jersey, 1000 people per square mile, you can, you know, we have some of our best performing stores here in the country are right here in our backyard. So, to get the kids Good, good old concentric development, and then we may, you know, we may, as part of an area development agreement, once the corporate store is up and running, we may give the franchisees an opportunity, depending on who it is.
And again, their plan, we may give them the opportunity to buy that store and develop more in an area that would give them a great way to kick off the market to have an operating store and then to you know, be able to put more in around that store. It's a great way to the franchise and it's not, it's not new, I mean franchise stores. In my 35-year career in franchising, that's been the best way to go about it is, is grow a market at a time. And we just happened to be doing it in several different markets because we do have a presence throughout the US with almost 100 locations that we have open right now.
The Mag
Right? Well congratulations on all the success if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team what's the website for potential franchisees.
Mark Mele
parisbaguettefamily.com is the best way to get to us and of course, if you just Google in Paris Baguette you'll hear all over the web. So, you'll find this pretty easily. So, parents would get and then just hit the link and you'll come right to us and click on the franchise section, and you can request information anytime.
The Mag
Well, Mark, thank you so much for sharing your story today.
Mark Mele
Well, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Thanks so much. Have a great day.
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