Annie Song grew up eating pastries from Paris Baguette, but she could only get them when her family visited Los Angeles or New York.
That’s because the South Korean-based chain, whose popularity in that country is akin to Starbucks in the U.S., hadn’t yet expanded as far as it has today.
So when Song, who is Korean-American, had a chance to open a location near Denver, she took it. “I would always go (to New York or L.A.) to get my fix, but I wanted to bring Paris Baguette to Colorado, where we don’t have that type of variety or options to choose from,” she said.
An entrepreneur who owned Explicit Streetwear, which sold graphic tees and jeans in Aurora before closing during the pandemic, Song opened her first Paris Baguette store at 10601 E. Garden Drive in Aurora last July.
She isn’t the first local franchisee — there’s another Paris Baguette in Parker, which opened in March — but she has plans to grow quickly, and has signed on to open three more stores in the future. One of those will be in Colorado Springs, where Song has already signed a lease.
The opening of Paris Baguette was big news for some people in Colorado’s Asian communities because there is a special culinary connection between French pastries and South Korea and other Asian countries, said Adam You, a local foodie and founder of the Denver Chinese Source, an online blog that writes about local Asian restaurants and events.
“In Asia overall, we have something we always call the Western bakery,” You said. “A Western bakery is normally French-style because we don’t like sugar-coated or too sweet pastries. Paris Baguette is targeting a group of people who already know who they are.”
Founded in 1988, the company is now a subsidiary of SPC Group, one of the biggest food suppliers in South Korea. It has 3,600 locations in South Korea and nearly 100 in the U.S., which it expanded to in 2005, starting with L.A.
“Here in the U.S., we have leaned in on the French bakery inspiration while incorporating many of our traditional Korean roots to create truly unique products,” said Mat Miskiman, Paris Baguette’s Senior Manager of Real Estate & Franchise Development.
A Taiwanese native who has lived here for 30 years, You said that since Aurora boasts a large South Korean population, there is a built-in customer base. “People know what to expect when they order at Paris Baguette because they’re really famous in Asia, and it brings a lot of variety to the food scene in the greater Denver metro area.
“There are so many Asian bakeries coming to town now, but before it was so difficult to find a good Asian bakery,” he added.
You likes to get to Paris Baguette early for fresh-baked pastries, which customers can see being made by bakers through the glass window. Some of its specialties include the King Cream Donut with powdered sugar on the outside and soft Bavarian cream bursting at the seams. There are also a few classic Korean items, including whole red bean bread and garlic sausage wrapped in croissants, or Japanese-inspired mochi donuts.
Despite its built-in base of Korean customers, however, Song said, “We have a melting pot of different cultural customers coming in. It’s not just one group within the Aurora community that frequents us, and we already have regulars just three months in. I think people love the idea of a local community bakery, and they might already be familiar with the big franchise name.”
That familiarity is why Miskiman said the company’s goal is to open 10 more Colorado stores in the next five years, including in downtown Denver, Boulder, Westminster, Littleton, Castle Rock and Fort Collins.
“When we had a strong market brand and success overseas, there was an increased desire to move to the U.S. and bring this brand over from South Korea,” he wrote in an email. “We are seeing a lot of success in North America and are excited to keep growing.”
Paris Baguette is beefing up its presence in Denver alongside its competitor Tous le Jours, another South Korean-based bakery chain with French-inspired baked goods. Tous le Jours opened its first Colorado location in Westminster in December 2020, and has two more stores now in Aurora and Thornton.
