Paul (bakery) facts for kids

Paul at the Louvre Museum, Paris

Paul inside a shopping center in
Le Chesnay, France

Paul in Prague, Czech Republic

Paul is a famous French chain of bakery-café restaurants. You can find their delicious French breads, pastries, and sandwiches in 47 countries around the world! The main office is in Marcq-en-Barœul, a town near Lille, France.

Paul specializes in French foods like different kinds of bread, crêpes, sandwiches, macarons, soups, cakes, and pastries. They also serve coffee, wine, and beer. Paul is a family business that has been around for five generations. It is currently owned by a company called Groupe Holder. This group also used to own the fancy French pastry shop, Ladurée.

Paul at SM Aura

Paul's History

In 1889, a baker named Charlemagne Mayot and his wife opened a bakery in a French town called Croix. Their son, Edmond Mayot, took over the bakery in 1908.

Later, in 1935, Edmond's daughter, Suzanne Mayot, married Julien Holder. He was also a baker and pastry chef. Together, they opened a new bakery in Lille. In 1953, the Holders and their son Francis took over a well-known bakery that belonged to the Paul family. They decided to keep the "Paul" name.

After his father passed away in 1958, Francis Holder and his mother continued running the family bakery in Lille. When Francis finished his military service in 1963, he opened a new Paul bakery in Lille. He started with a small amount of money. With his mother's help, he made the business bigger.

When a large department store called Nouvelles Galeries opened in 1965, Francis offered to supply their bread. He also provided bread to big supermarkets like Auchan and Monoprix from his bakery. By 1970, he was able to buy an old factory building near Lille. He turned it into a very large bakery.

In 1972, they put a special wood-fired oven in the original Lille bakery. People loved the bread from this oven so much! As the Paul chain grew and opened stores in shopping malls in Paris and other big French cities, these special ovens became a part of every new store. In 1993, Paul changed its store design to the black look you see today. Other than that, the way Paul stores look and feel has stayed mostly the same.

Paul's Locations Around the World

As of 2022, Paul has more than 750 bakery and cafe restaurants. About 424 of these are in France. The other 300+ are in 46 different countries!

The first Paul bakery outside France opened in 1985 in Barcelona, Spain. The first international Paul store that was run by another company (a "franchise") opened in 1989 in Nagoya, Japan.

The third country outside France to get a Paul bakery was Morocco in 1998. Today, there are 14 Paul bakeries there. Paul also has many locations in the United Kingdom (34 since 2000), Lebanon (14 since 2002), and Belgium (21 since 2007). You can also find Paul in Romania and Taiwan (since 2008), Singapore (since 2012), India, and the Middle East (since 2013).

Besides French cities, Paul has many locations in other famous cities. These include Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Brussels, Bucharest, Cairo, Cape Town, Doha, Dubai, Johannesburg, London, Prague, Riyadh, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, and Washington D.C.

Paul opened its first bakery in Karachi, Pakistan in March 2021. In May 2021, Paul opened its first Canadian bakery in Vancouver, Canada.

What's on the Menu?

Paul offers a wide variety of delicious items. You can find pastries, cakes, beignets, croissants, and sandwiches. They also serve soups, quiches, tarts, crepes, and egg dishes. Paul is famous for its bread, with over 140 different types! To drink, they have tea, wine, beer, water, soft drinks, and many kinds of coffee.

See also

• List of bakery cafés