The Texas Milestone
Paris Baguette will open its Missouri City, Texas bakery café on October 31, marking the brand's 30th location in the state. Situated at 6266 Highway 6 inside the Kroger-anchored Colony Lakes Shopping Center, the café is positioned to serve several dense suburban communities, including Sienna, Riverstone, Quail Valley, and Lake Olympia.
The unit is owned and operated by franchisee Osman Ulhaq, alongside Krystle Ulhaq, Vice President of Talent and Experience. Ulhaq brings a cross-industry background to the venture — he launched his career with InterContinental Hotels, later held leadership roles at Honda, Lexus, and Yum! Brands, and most recently served as executive vice president and chief strategy and growth officer across three Arizona-based credit union organizations. He said he chose the Paris Baguette concept after experiencing it firsthand and saw an opportunity to combine his growth-strategy expertise with hands-on hospitality.
Local Hiring and Community Ties
The Missouri City café has created 45 new jobs, all filled through local hiring. The Ulhaqs have also committed to charitable partnerships, including support for No Kid Hungry and area food banks — a reflection of the brand's "Love Baked In" community programming. "Missouri City is an incredible place to build something meaningful," said Ulhaq. "We want to create a space our neighbors feel is truly theirs — a place where people feel welcome, relationships are built and everyday moments can become something special."
CEO Darren Tipton framed the opening within the brand's broader franchise strategy: "We're on a mission to reestablish the neighborhood bakery café as the heart of the community across the U.S., and we're excited to see Osman bring this to life in his local trade area."
Expansion Context
With more than 4,000 locations worldwide and more than 350 bakery cafés operating across North America, Paris Baguette has set a target of 1,000 U.S. and Canadian locations by 2030. The Missouri City opening is one of multiple units currently in development as the brand accelerates its franchise pipeline through partnerships with independent operators in high-density suburban markets.
For operators tracking bakery-café franchise expansion and foodservice real estate trends, Paris Baguette's Texas footprint illustrates how the segment continues to draw multi-industry entrepreneurs into the category, particularly in Sun Belt submarkets with growing residential density. The brand's menu spans freshly baked pastries, artisan breads, handcrafted cakes, and coffee beverages — a format that competes across both the morning daypart and special-occasion gifting channels.
This story was developed with reporting support from Food & Beverage Magazine.
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.
