French Baker to open more branches

Filipino-owned bakery chain The French Baker Inc. will invest millions of pesos as it opens new branches this year and renovates existing ones.

Johnlu Koa, French Baker founder and general manager said they would like to locate their three new stores at the new malls tycoon Henry Sy will be building.

“We are following SM’s footsteps but there are no offers yet. We are also evaluating the possibility of putting up stand-alone shops. Right now we are concentrating on renovating our old stores,” Koa said.

The renovation is in line with the plan of the firm to expand its reach to include the younger segment.

“When we renovated our stores, we were able to attract a new segment – the younger crowd. We now have more sophisticated shops,” he said.

For renovations alone, Koa said the firm will be spending P50 million. French Baker is present in 35 locations to date.

With the plans in place, Koa said at the very least their sales will grow by 10 percent this year, better than the six percent growth it posted last year.

Koa cited that their Cebu branch experienced 50 percent sales increase after the store was remodelled in order to accommodate young customers.

“This is what people want. We now have a nicer ambience, nicer powder rooms. This is one way of ensuring our system growth. We also want store growth. As malls renovate, we have to follow through,” he said.

At the same time, Koa announced they will be launching new products this year as it introduces  its first 100 percent whole wheat bread within the first half.