As readers of The Burn know, the huge international bakery cafe brand Paris Baguette is expanding in Northern Virginia and adding its first Loudoun County location in Ashburn.
Paris Baguette will be coming to the Bram Quarter development — a large new retail and office building that has gone up near the intersection of Loudoun County Parkway and Evergreen Mills Road in the Brambleton community.
The principal partners in the project are Joe Kook and his sister-in-law, Yulia Kook. They and their families live in the South Riding area.
We interviewed Joe Kook about the journey to this point — and what comes next. (Editor’s note: The interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity.)
Q: WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GET INTO THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS?
“In college, I was going for physical therapy and (Yulia) was working at a bank as an accountant. I had some down time after college and started working as a barista at Starbucks. I enjoyed it and I thought it would be a great idea to start our own business and go down this adventurous route.”
Q: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE A FRANCHISE OVER OPENING YOUR OWN CONCEPT?
“We talked about it with the entire family — whether we wanted to open a small business or go the franchise route. Yulia already had a good knowledge about Paris Baguette. We also had some friends who are opening a Paris Baguette and had great things to say about the process.”
Q: DID YOU EXPLORE ANY OTHER BRANDS BEFORE SETTLING ON PARIS BAGUETTE?
“We were actually going to do boba — bubble tea. We tried pursuing that for about a year, and we weren’t happy with where things were going, and we switched over.”
Q: HOW DID YOU SELECT PARIS BAGUETTE SPECIFICALLY? WHAT WAS THE PROCESS LIKE?
“You make an inquiry on their website, and they reach out via email to see if you are good fit. Then they call you to get more information to see if you are compatible and from there, it flows.”
Q: WHAT SPECIFICALLY ATTRACTED YOU TO PARIS BAGUETTE?
“We lived in the Centerville area for a good bit of time. Yulia and my brother lived there even longer, and they would go almost every weekend to the local Paris Baguette. So, they had a really good knowledge about the good quality bread. They thought Paris Baguette had some top tier, really quality items. Paris baguette does a great job. Their coffee line is much more like Starbucks’ style.
Q: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ASHBURN AS THE LOCATION FOR YOUR FIRST STORE?
“We really liked the area, but a large part of it was Paris Baguette helping us as well. They advise us on where they think the best location is. They do extensive research on where they think will have the best traffic. This was on the list along with Gainesville (Virginia), but we decided to pursue (Ashburn) since we live out here.”
Q: SOME FRANCHISE BRANDS WILL GIVE YOU A SPECIFIC TERRITORY TO DEVELOP, A SPECIFIC TOWN OR COUNTY. IS THAT HOW PARIS BAGUETTE WORKS?
“It’s more of a contract-driven thing. They tell us what locations are available and they let us know what franchises are in what area. If it’s open, we can explore it, or they will tell us this is a closed area. It’s not that strict — it’s more of them helping guide us.”
Q: WHAT DOES YOUR CURRENT TIMELINE LOOK LIKE? WHAT STEPS DO YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU?
“We’ve been working on it since late 2022. The first thing is finding the right space and then see if the (landlord’s) terms match with what Paris Baguette suggests is a good lease. We signed the (Ashburn) lease around late March, beginning of April.”
Q: WHAT ABOUT THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PHASE?
“We just got done with the whole design phase — the (architectural) drawings — and now we are trying to get our permits form the county and then the next phase would be construction. Paris baguette has been open to us finding our own contractors and sub-contractors. My brother is a project manager and we’ve been hounding him for his resources, and he’s been a big help. Paris Baguette is to us doing our own thing (with construction) as long as they are in the loop.”
Q: WHEN DO YOU WANT TO BE READY TO OPEN THE ASHBURN LOCATION?
“We are hoping to open by November or December. We love the community here and we just hope (everyone) is as excited as we are.”
Q: DO YOU ANTICIPATE OPENING OTHER PARIS BAGUETTE LOCATIONS?
“That’s definitely the plan. We’ve been thinking about it and talking about. It’s too early to say for certain, but I think we definitely want to open a second location, but we will see how the first location goes.”
For more on the new Paris Baguette location in Ashburn, as well as one coming to Herndon, check out our coverage here.