SPC opens 700th global Paris Baguette in London

Paris Baguette at Westfield London in England bustles with visitors, Friday (local time). Courtesy of SPC

Food giant SPC’s bakery brand Paris Baguette has opened its 700th overseas store with a new location in London, further expanding the Korean conglomerate’s brand in global markets.

The new store is a local franchise rather than directly managed by the company, highlighting both the brand’s local popularity and the conglomerate’s growing franchise partnerships in international consumer markets.

Paris Baguette, under SPC subsidiary Paris Croissant, on Friday (local time) opened its fourth store in the U.K., located inside Westfield London, a shopping mall in Shepherd’s Bush, London.

The store is the brand’s second local franchise in the country, run by Wayne Stevenson. It is his second Paris Baguette store, following his first at Canary Wharf, London’s financial district, which opened in November last year.

“Since my first Paris Baguette opening, it has been an emotional journey for me — an emotion well spent, as it is now a thriving bakery and community hub for many who live and work around the Wharf,” Stevenson said.

SPC plans to open the U.K.’s fifth Paris Baguette store later this month at Portobello Road Market in London, a hot spot featured in the 1999 hit film "Notting Hill." This new location will also be the brand’s third local franchise in the U.K.

Paris Baguette debuted in the U.K. in 2022 with the opening of two London stores.

The brand has now expanded to 15 countries globally, with China and the United States leading in scale, with 340 and 240 local stores, respectively.