Paul is a French chain of

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

restaurants found in 47 countries with the head office at

Marcq-en-Barœul Marcq-en-Barœul (; ; older ) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France. It is a suburb of the city of Lille, and is immediately adjacent to it on the northeast. It is the sixth-largest component of the ...

, Greater

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, France. It specializes in serving French products, including breads,

crêpe A crêpe or crepe ( or , , ) is a dish made from unleavened batter or dough that is cooked on a frying pan or a griddle. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: ''sweet crêpes'' () or ''savoury galettes'' (). They are often served ...

s, 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 Pâtisserie E. Ladurée, commonly known as Ladurée (), is a French manufacturer and retailer of high-end pastries and candy, established in 1862. Ladurée is well-known throughout the world for its Macaron, macarons. The company is a ''socié ...

from 2002 to 2021.

History

In 1889 a bakery was established by Charlemagne Mayot and his wife in the town of

Croix Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

, Nord, France. In 1908, their son, Edmond Mayot, took over the bakery. In 1935, Edmond's daughter, Suzanne Mayot, married Julien Holder, himself a baker and pastry chef. Together, they opened a bakery on Rue des Sarrazins, in the Wazemmes district of

. 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. Following the death of his father in 1958,

Francis Holder Francis Holder (born July 28, 1940) is a French businessman, Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Groupe Holder which owns companies like Ladurée and PAUL. Biography Holder began working for his parents in 1953 ...

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 The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, however, he was sent for his military obligations to Nogent-le-Rotrou, in

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575. When he returned in 1963, he opened a new Paul bakery, on boulevard de Belfort, Lille, with 10,000 old

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

. With his mother's assistance, he expanded the business and when the Nouvelles Galeries opened in 1965, he immediately offered to supply their bread. Under the "Moulin Bleu", Francis Holder provided bread to

Auchan Auchan () is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company. With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% ...

and Monoprix from his bakery in

Lambersart Lambersart () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. This commune is located in the Métropole Européenne de Lille, and is a suburb of the city of Lille, bordering it on its northwest side. Inhabitants of the town are ca ...

. 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.

Locations

As of 2022, there are more than 750 Paul bakery/café restaurants, of which 424 are in France and over 300 are in 46 other countries. The first bakery outside France was opened in 1985 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. The first international franchise started in 1989 in Japan, with a bakery opened in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

. The third country outside France to open was Morocco in 1998, where 14 Paul bakeries are open. It is also present with 34 bakeries in United Kingdom since 2000, 14 in Lebanon since 2002, 21 in Belgium since 2007, 12 in Romania, six in Taiwan since 2008, seven in Singapore since 2012, four (with one under construction) in India and over 70 in the Middle East since 2013. 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, Nouakchott, Prague, Rabat, Riyadh, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, and Washington. Paul's first bakery in Pakistan was opened in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in March 2021. In May 2021, Paul opened its first Canadian bakery in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

References

External links

* * {{official website, http://www.boulangeries-paul.com/ Bakeries of France Bakery cafés Coffeehouses and cafés in France Fast-food chains of France French companies established in 1889 Fast-food franchises Restaurants established in 1889

History

Locations

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See also

References

External links