Croissants at 6 AM and Cake Decorators at 4 AM: Paris Baguette Has Landed at St. Johns Town Center

Situated between a Paul Mitchell salon and a Zales jewelry store at St. Johns Town Center on Jacksonville’s Southside, this retail strip is tucked away in a low-slung, one-story building that is easy to pass if you’re not paying attention. It’s the kind of place where tenants come and go; the most recent one was a Pieology Pizzeria, which closed in 2022 after almost six years. The area was transformed into something much more intriguing on March 31st: the first Paris Baguette in Northeast Florida.

Globally, Paris Baguette is not a novel brand. Since its founding in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988, the chain has expanded to over 4,000 locations worldwide. It falls into what the food industry sometimes refers to as “affordable premium”—a café-bakery experience centered around freshly baked pastries, handcrafted cakes, good coffee, and enough savory options to make a decent lunch. The chain, which has been steadily growing throughout American suburban shopping centers over the past few years, has opened its 301st location in Jacksonville. It feels a little unexpected to see one arrive at St. Johns Town Center, but it makes perfect sense when you consider how the category has been expanding.

Wei Zhu, a Hilton Head, South Carolina-based franchisee with development rights for Jacksonville, Savannah, Hilton Head, and Indianapolis, is in charge of bringing Paris Baguette to this part of Florida. Jacksonville’s Town Center opening is the first of at least four planned locations in the region, according to Zhu, who has stated that he is investigating rights to Miami and other South Florida locations. Jacksonville Beach and Mandarin are reportedly being considered by the chain as potential locations, though neither location’s timeline has been disclosed.

From what you can see inside the Town Center location, the Paris Baguette model is successful because it combines familiar and slightly elevated elements. There are more cakes than you might think, including Red Velvet and Chocolate, Triple Chocolate Crunch Irish Cream Layer Cake, Blueberry Chiffon, and Strawberry Soft Cream Cake, which is described on the menu as having “soft cream and fresh strawberries, topped with more berries.” The assistant general manager of the establishment, Kate Toler, was quick to point out that the cream cakes are particularly lighter in texture than traditional American cakes—not as dense, she said. This seems to be a point of real differentiation for customers used to the buttercream-heavy options at most grocery bakery counters.

It is worthwhile to take a moment to consider the production schedule that underlies all of this. Every day at two in the morning, bakers arrive to start making everything from scratch. At four in the morning, cake decorators arrive. Additionally, sandwich preparation begins early. Almond croissants, French Apple Turnovers, Sticky Milk Buns, Walnut Cream Bread, and tarts like Pastel De Nata, Tiramisu, Cheese, and a special mixed berry fill the cases by the time the café opens at six in the morning. According to General Manager Jin Huang, the mochi and croissant doughnuts are among the most well-liked products. The specificity of the Smoked Sausage Bread—a cream bun stuffed with smoked sausage and Dijon mustard, topped with mozzarella and ketchup—suggests that the menu was created for actual texture preferences rather than merely demographic categories.

Korean BBQ options, such as a pizzetta, a grilled cheese sandwich, a wrap, and a salad, are currently part of the seasonal savory lineup. This is a clever branding move that links the chain’s Seoul roots with contemporary American culinary trends. For a few years now, Korean food has been a major cultural phenomenon in the United States, and it seems sensible to embrace these flavors instead of hiding them behind generic café offerings.

Walking through the Town Center strip, where Paris Baguette is currently located between Chicken Salad Chick and Smoothie King, makes it difficult to ignore how many dessert options Jacksonville already has in this area of the Southside. Within five minutes’ walk are Kilwins, a sugar factory, The Yard Milkshake Bar, and a number of other establishments. Not only is Paris Baguette competing in the bakery category, but it’s also competing in an area with plenty of sweet options. The next few months of business will determine whether the combination of all-day hours, a full café drink menu with Lavazza coffee, the savory lineup, and the cake-as-destination-purchase model is sufficient to set it apart from those neighbors.
The opening does imply that Northeast Florida is a market worth large-scale investment for both the franchisee driving this expansion and the chain behind him. It is a significant commitment to have four locations. It reveals something about Zhu’s perception of Jacksonville’s desire for this kind of product as well as how Paris Baguette views its own American future.