Breaking Bread in Denver: Paris Baguette Signs First Franchise Agreement in Colorado

Paris Baguette , a 4000-plus-unit strong international brand of bakery cafés, is coming to the Denver area — all thanks to Colorado restauranteur (and Spirit Airline pilot) Jun Han , who recently signed a franchise agreement with the brand.

Along with his family, including his parents and wife, Han already operates three Japanese restaurants in Aurora, the booming city just west of Denver. But when it comes to global brand Paris Baguette and its expanding U.S. presence, he has a chance to bring a little of his home country to his adopted town.

“My wife and I were both very familiar with Paris Baguette before we joined the franchise,” said Han. “It's high-end, focusing on quality, which is something we have always strived for in our businesses. Quality over quantity — that's our motto.”

Han’s three Japanese restaurants employ 150 people, and he admits building and scaling operations from the ground up was no easy feat. And that’s just a side hustle for this hard-working entrepreneur: As a pilot for Spirit Airlines, he’s on the road about half the month, while his wife runs the family business. Oh, and the family has a new baby just to add to the complexity.

Although the Hans knew they wanted to grow their restaurant portfolio, they knew they needed a different approach. Hans’ wife always dreamed of opening a bakery café, and that’s when they began researching franchise opportunities. Paris Baguette was a natural fit.

“ By signing with Paris Baguette, we were able to gain that experience from a very well-established franchise with all the systems set and in place,” he explained. “This is our way of getting into a bakery market. We also wanted to see what it was like to make sure that bakeries were what we wanted to do next.”

He also knew the brand has a built-in fan base in Aurora. The brand’s popularity has spread to all corners of the world. “W e're excited to bring a little piece of this global brand to our people,” he said.

Mark Mele , Paris Baguette’s chief development officer, is excited to debut in the Denver market. “Everything that we’ve seen in terms of demographics tells us that this will be an ideal market for the brand,” he said. “And we simply could not ask for a better franchise partner than the Han family to help us introduce it to Colorado.”

Currently, the brand has 90 cafés across the country. He believes the Denver metro area could easily welcome 10 to 15 more Paris Baguette units, if not more.

That’s just fine by Han, who thinks the brand will take off from here. “We think the sky's the limit for Paris Baguette in Colorado,” he said.

The total investment to franchise with Paris Baguette ranges from $709,193 to $1,386,292, including a $50,000 initial franchise fee. If you enter into an area development agreement, you must develop a minimum of four stores and, in addition to the total investment, you will be required to pay an area development fee equal to $20,000 multiplied by the number of stores you plan to develop. For more information on franchising with Paris Baguette, please visit