Paris Baguette opens its first US store in the Los Angeles area

Paris Baguette, the bakery-café brand of South Korea's SPC Group, opened its first store in the United States in 2005, in the Los Angeles area. The move marked the start of the chain's expansion into the American market.

The brand had been launched in South Korea in 1988 and grew into one of the country's largest bakery chains, building on SPC's much older bakery business. By the mid-2000s it was looking abroad, and it had already begun expanding in China. Southern California was a natural early choice, given its large Korean American community and its reputation as a testing ground for food and retail concepts.

The first American store sold French-style breads and pastries alongside Korean-influenced items, combining a café setting with a bakery counter. It gave SPC a foothold from which to learn about American tastes, real estate and operations.

The Los Angeles opening mattered because it laid the groundwork for the chain's later growth across the United States. Nearly two decades later, that growth has included new formats such as drive-thru locations.