The Paris Baguette location at Fresno's Villaggio shoping center hosted a grand opening over the weekend. Photo illustration by Israel Meave

Paris Baguette — a Korean-owned bakery cafe franchise with more than 4,000 locations globally — celebrated the grand opening of its Fresno location Saturday.

Located at the Villaggio Shopping Center, Paris Baguette is known for its self-serve pastry cases full of fresh-baked items. It has about 200 stores nationwide and hopes to expand to 1,000 bakeries in North America by 2030.

Fresno natives Nikki and Anvar Tulyag spent several years researching locations for the store. The duo discovered Paris Baguette several years ago while visiting the Bay Area and fell in love with the concept.

“We thought that we could do something in Fresno,” Anvar said. “That was the beginning of the journey.”

The duo has a background well-rooted in the business community. Anvar has worked for years in finance as a chief financial officer. Nikki, a stay-at-home mom for more than two decades, came into the franchising business through another venture several years ago. 

“When the kids all went to school that was time for me to spread my wings,” Nikki said. “That’s when we said ‘Ok. Time for a new project.”

After successfully managing five franchised locations of a dessert-style eatery, Nikki sought to branch out, continuing to manage the other franchises while embarking on the duo’s journey with Paris Baguette.

After a nearly three year process that saw the couple considering everything from new build sites to pre-existing locations, they chose Villaggio for two main reasons: the location and the timeliness.

Anvar said that the initial location that attracted their attention was delayed by construction. Anvar said that being in the right location definitely played a key role in the couple’s decision to open the Villaggio location.

“It’s one of those shopping centers that you can say ‘all the roads lead to Rome,’” Nikki said.

The bakery model, Nikki said, is like stepping into a candy store — only with a pastry theme.

“If you walk into a store that is run well, well stocked — it is very much like stepping into a ‘candy land’ — but our case is a ‘pastry land,’” Nikki said.

The duo isn’t stopping at just one Paris Baguette location. Later this year the duo will open their second location at the El Paseo Shopping Center — a new build that will see some of the 50 staff members hired for the duo’s first store transfer to the new bakery.