Paul (bakery)

For other uses, see Paul (disambiguation).

Boulangeries Paul SAS
Company typePrivate (SAS)
IndustryRestaurants
GenreFast casual/bakery-cafés
Founded1889; 135 years ago (1889)
HeadquartersMarcq-en-Barœul, France
Number of locations
750+ (424 in France)
Key people
  • Charlemagne Mayot, founder
  • Paul Norman Norminator Roles
Productsseveral varieties of bread, such as bagels, loaves, and muffins, cold sandwiches, hot panini, salads, soups, cakes, and pastries
ParentGroupe Holder
Websiteboulangeries-paul.com
Paul at the Louvre Museum, Paris
Paul inside a shopping center in
Le Chesnay, France
Paul in Prague, Czech Republic

Paul is a French chain of bakery-café restaurants found in 47 countries with the head office at Marcq-en-Barœul, Greater Lille, France.[1] It specializes in serving French products, including breads, crêpes, sandwiches, macarons, soups, cakes, pastries, coffee, wine and beer. It is a five generation, family company currently owned by Groupe Holder which also owned the French luxury pâtisserie Ladurée from 2002 to 2021.[2]

Paul at SM Aura

History

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In 1889 a bakery was established by Charlemagne Mayot and his wife in the town of Croix, Nord, France.[3] In 1908, their son, Edmond Mayot, took over the bakery.[3] In 1935, Edmond's daughter, Suzanne Mayot, married Julien Holder, himself a baker and pastry chef.[3] Together, they opened a bakery on Rue des Sarrazins, in the Wazemmes district of Lille.[4] In 1953 the Holders and their son Francis took over a better known bakery-pâtisserie owned by the Paul family, and they kept the "Paul" name.[5]

Following the death of his father in 1958, Francis Holder with his mother took over the family bakery in Lille. Because of his status as a breadwinner, Francis Holder did not fight in the Algerian War, however, he was sent for his military obligations to Nogent-le-Rotrou, in Eure-et-Loir.[4] When he returned in 1963, he opened a new Paul bakery, on boulevard de Belfort, Lille, with 10,000 old francs.[1] With his mother's assistance, he expanded the business and when the Nouvelles Galeries opened in 1965, he immediately offered to supply their bread.[4] Under the "Moulin Bleu", Francis Holder provided bread to Auchan and Monoprix from his bakery in Lambersart. By 1970, he was able to purchase an abandoned industrial site at La Madeleine, in the suburbs of Lille, transforming it into an enormous bakery.

The installation in 1972 of a wood stove at the original Lille bakery proved so popular that, as the Paul chain expanded into French malls in Paris and other major French cities, it was incorporated into the general layout. Apart from a change of livery in 1993 (to the now-signature black), the layout and visual aesthetic of Paul stores has not changed.[3]

Locations

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As of 2022, there are more than 750 Paul bakery/café restaurants of which 424 in France and over 300 in 46 other countries.[1]

The first bakery outside France was opened in 1985 in Barcelona.[6] The first international franchise started in 1989 in Japan, with a bakery opened in Nagoya.[3] The third country outside France to open was Morocco in 1998, where 14 Paul bakeries are open.[7] It is also present with 34 bakeries in United Kingdom since 2000, 14 in Lebanon since 2002,[8] 21 in Belgium since 2007,[9] 12 in Romania[10] and 6 in Taiwan since 2008,[11] 7 in Singapore since 2012[1] and 4 (with 1 under construction) in India[12] and over 70 in Middle East since 2013.[13]

In addition to French cities, it has multiple locations in other cities such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Beirut, Bruxelles, Bucharest, Cairo, Cape Town, Casablanca, Doha, Dubai, Johannesburg, London, Prague, Rabat, Riyadh, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Washington.[3]

Paul's first bakery in Pakistan was opened in Karachi in March 2021.[14] In May 2021, Paul opened its first Canadian bakery in Vancouver.[15]

Since Country
1985 Spain
1990 Japan
1998 Morocco
2000 United Kingdom
2002 Lebanon
2003 Kuwait, United Arab Emirates
2005 United States
2007 Belgium, China (closed), Jordan, Reunion
2008 Romania, Taiwan
2009 South Korea (closed 2013)
2010 Czech Republic, Greece
2011 Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Singapore
2012 Luxembourg, Russia, Saudi Arabia
2013 Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Oman, Philippines
2014 Azerbaijan, Thailand, Ukraine
2015 Panama, Poland
2015 Johannesburg, South Africa[16]
2016 Georgia, Portugal, Vietnam
2017 Belarus, Cyprus, Gabon, Malaysia, South Africa, Tunisia
2018 Mauritius
2019 Tashkent, Uzbekistan, India[12]
2021 Pakistan, Canada
2022 Armenia, Mauritania
2023 Cameroon, Italy

2024

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

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Products include pastries, cakes, beignets, croissants, sandwiches, soups, quiches, tarts, crepes, eggs, and over 140 types of bread. They also have tea, wine, beer, mineral water, soft drinks and coffee-based drinks.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Our Story – PAUL". paul-singapore.com. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Ladurée bientôt vendu à Stéphane Courbit par Holder (Boulangeries Paul) ?". capital.fr (in French). 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Our history". paul-bakeries.com. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  4. ^ a b c "Dans les fournils de Paul". leexpress.fr (in French). 25 January 2006. Retrieved 26 January 2006.
  5. ^ "Rencontre exclusive avec Maxime Holder, président directeur général des Boulangeries Paul". observatoiredelafranchise.fr (in French). Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  6. ^ "Bakery group Paul to open second Restaurant de Paul". thecaterer.com. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Paul part à la conquête de la province, des gares et des aéroports". medias24.com. 5 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Boulangerie Paul: Baking French Quality Since 2002". nogarlicnoonions.com. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Boulangerie PAUL ouvre pour la première fois dans une gare". topbrands.be. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Paul lansează două noi croissante de inspirație franțuzească, în ediție limitată". wall-street.ro. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  11. ^ "French bakery chain opens flagship store along Renai circle". taipeitimes.com. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  12. ^ a b "About Us – Paul India". Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Our story". paularabia.com. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Paul French Bakery, Café & Restaurant Opens its Doors in the City of Lights Karachi". wow360.pk. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  15. ^ McLean, Hannah. "PAUL Vancouver: Famous French bakery now open on Robson Street". Daily Hive. Daily Hive. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  16. ^ "FOODStuff SA | The first PAUL bakery opens in South Africa". Retrieved 20 October 2022.
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