The franchise brand Paris Baguette is entering the greater Richmond, Virginia market for the first time with a three-unit franchise agreement signed in Henrico County. The new franchisee, Jeff Han, brings nearly two decades of wholesale distribution experience and a personal connection to Korean bakery culture that developed through years of family travel to South Korea. The deal adds to a series of multi-unit commitments the brand has secured across the U.S. in 2026.
The agreement arrives weeks after Paris Baguette reached 300 U.S. locations, a milestone marked by the opening of its first airport café at Philadelphia International Airport in May 2026. The French-inspired, South Korean-founded franchise concept operates more than 4,000 locations worldwide and has publicly stated a target of 1,000 U.S. cafés by 2030. The brand appeared on Entrepreneur’s 2026 Franchise 500 list, reflecting its sustained growth trajectory in the American market.
A Wholesale Veteran Signs His First Franchise Deal
Jeff Han spent close to 20 years building a career in wholesale distribution before pivoting to the bakery-café sector. His interest in Paris Baguette developed through family visits to South Korea, where the brand has operated for decades as a familiar part of urban café culture. The three-unit development agreement makes Han the first Paris Baguette operator in Henrico County and marks the brand’s initial entry into the Richmond, Virginia market. The agreement covers three locations to be opened over a development timeline consistent with the brand’s multi-unit model.
The wholesale background Han brings to the role is a profile common among multi-unit operators in the food and beverage sector. Experience in supply chain management, vendor negotiation, and inventory logistics is frequently cited in industry reporting as a factor that operators draw on when scaling across several locations simultaneously.
The Richmond Market: An Untapped Geography for the Brand
Henrico County sits directly adjacent to the city of Richmond in central Virginia, within a metropolitan area that has recorded consistent population and economic growth over the past decade. Paris Baguette had no prior presence in this market before the Han agreement. The three-unit structure gives the brand a staged entry rather than a single-location test, a pattern the franchisor has used repeatedly when moving into new mid-sized American cities. Virginia already hosts several Paris Baguette cafés, primarily in Northern Virginia, making Henrico County a geographic extension of the brand’s footprint further into the state.
Good to know
Paris Baguette’s Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is available to prospective franchisees under FTC Franchise Rule requirements. The document details estimated startup costs, royalty structures, and franchisee obligations. Candidates typically complete a formal discovery process with the franchisor before any agreement is signed.
Paris Baguette’s Push Toward 1,000 U.S. Locations
Reaching 1,000 U.S. cafés by 2030 from a base of 300 locations in mid-2026 implies an average of roughly 140 net new openings per year over the remainder of the decade. Multi-unit agreements with experienced operators in markets where the brand has no presence have been a consistent mechanism in that expansion strategy. Paris Baguette’s Chief Development Officer, Nick Scaccio, outlined the brand’s approach to multi-unit growth in a 2026 interview with QSR Uncut, describing the path to 1,000 restaurants as one driven by deliberate market selection and franchisee quality. The Henrico County deal, which brings in an operator with a structured background in distribution rather than food service, reflects that approach.
The Richmond agreement is one of several multi-unit deals Paris Baguette has announced in 2026, alongside openings and signings across the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest. The brand’s expansion pace has attracted attention within the bakery-café segment, a category that has seen sustained consumer interest across U.S. markets following post-pandemic shifts in café and light dining habits.
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