Since pushing into the market of Shanghai in China in Sept. 2004, Paris Baguette, a South Korean bakery chain owned by the SPC Group, has opened a total of 184 stores in China, the U.S., Vietnam, Singapore, and France as of Aug. 2015, introducing the excellence of Korean bakeries to the whole world.
Marking the 11th anniversary of the Chinese market advance in 2014, Paris Baguette opened its 100th store in Aug. 2012 and proved its brand awareness and management system settling in the market.
Establishing a subsidiary in the U.S. in 2002, Paris Baguette opened its first store in the L.A.'s Korea town in Oct. 2015. Currently, it operates 43 stores in California and New York. In particular, the brand has been putting up a good show from 2013 by penetrating the mainstream Manhattan market, such as Times Square, Midtown, and the Upper West Side.
As Paris Baguette made active efforts to tap into overseas markets in 2012, it opened its 100th overseas outlet in Cao Tang, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in March, and started its first business in Southeast Asia. Then, it opened its first store in Singapore in Sept. the same year. In 2014, Paris Baguette opened an outlet in Singapore’s Changi Airport for the first time in the country, spreading Korean food culture.
In July 2014, it became the nation’s first bakery to open a store in Paris, France, the home of the bread, paving the way to enter the market of Europe and pan-French cultural countries in the future. With the success of the first store, Paris Baguette opened its second Paris store in the city's opera district in July 2015.
The bakery chain considers taste and localization as the main reasons that it has succeeded in the global markets. Therefore, its most important strategy is to make delicious products that suit local customers’ appetites.
The focal points of the SPC Group’s global strategy are upscale, diversification, high quality, and localization.
First, Paris Baguette plans to differentiate itself as a premium brand to upper-tier customers with high purchasing power in the beginning of the market advance, and improve its brand awareness through steady customer-intimate events and experience marketing campaigns.
Also, it will offer a variety of goods so that there is a wide choice of selections for customers. Through products made with quality ingredients, the brand will build customer loyalty.
Lastly, Paris Baguette plans to maintain the percentage of its menu that best suits local customer tastes at 20 percent, and to achieve true localization by employing local people.