The New Design Model
Corner Bakery Cafe has opened a retro-inspired location in West Plano, Texas, that cost half as much to build as a standard Corner Bakery cafe — a development the brand intends to position as a replicable model for franchisees looking to open or relocate.
The cafe at 2100 Dallas Pkwy anchors its identity in the brand's Chicago origins. Original artifacts, including the iconic "T" sign from Corner Bakery's first downtown Chicago location, hang in the dining room alongside vintage artwork. The interior has been redesigned around contemporary guest behavior: longer communal tables, expanded natural light, and additional power outlets cater to the working-lunch and informal-meeting crowd, as well as commuters and students from nearby schools.
How Costs Came Down
Cost savings came from several directions simultaneously. Corner Bakery's parent company, SSCP, used its multibrand purchasing network to negotiate competitive pricing on kitchen equipment. The team made deliberate choices on fixtures, furniture, and materials to reduce construction spend without sacrificing finish quality.
Employee input also shaped the kitchen layout. Staff from the previous West Plano location contributed suggestions on workflow bottlenecks, and those changes were folded into the final floor plan. The design team further evaluated the space with an eye toward dine-in, curbside pickup, and third-party delivery simultaneously — an increasingly standard requirement in fast-casual restaurant development.
"In today's environment, a new cafe has to make financial sense from the start," said Erin Hasselgren, president of Corner Bakery Cafe. "Building with a clear return on investment in mind puts us in a stronger position to pursue the right growth opportunities."
Franchisee Implications
For operators evaluating growth in a high-cost construction environment, the West Plano prototype offers a tangible case study. Construction and equipment costs have remained elevated across foodservice since the post-pandemic supply-chain disruptions, making capital-efficient build formats a critical tool in franchise expansion strategies. By demonstrating a working location rather than a projected model, Corner Bakery is signaling to both existing and prospective franchisees that the economics of opening a new unit can be restructured without compromising the brand experience.
Founded in 1991 in Chicago, Corner Bakery Cafe now operates in 18 states and Washington, D.C., serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and catering under the SSCP portfolio. The West Plano opening represents the brand's clearest statement yet that growth going forward will be anchored in unit-level financial discipline as much as in market expansion.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
