Paris Baguette has locked in a 3,000-square-foot storefront at Morris Hills Shopping Center on Route 46 in Parsippany, landing a spot inside a 1950s-era retail hub that's in the middle of a $14 million makeover. The bakery café's exact opening date hasn't been set, but the lease marks one of the clearest signs yet that the long-struggling shopping center is turning a corner.
Property owner Brixmor Property Group is overseeing the renovation of the 159,561-square-foot center, with completion targeted for 2027, according to Brixmor Property Group. Leasing records show Paris Baguette has secured Space 0019, a footprint in line with the chain's traditional retail format, which typically runs around 3,000 square feet. The 18.5-acre property had been hit hard by vacancies in recent years after major anchors moved out.
As Parsippany Focus first reported, the café will open inside the shopping center as part of the broader renovation effort, though neither the bakery chain nor the property owner has published a firm opening date. Frank Cahill, chairman of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Economic Development Advisory Committee, said the shopping center renovation and the arrival of Trader Joe's and Paris Baguette will benefit local businesses and families, create jobs and revitalize a heavily traveled corridor, per the outlet.
Trader Joe's Set to Anchor the Overhaul
The redevelopment's other marquee tenant is Trader Joe's, which a company spokesperson officially confirmed in June would open a Parsippany location, according to Parsippany Patch. The store will be the grocer's third in Morris County, joining existing locations in Denville and Florham Park, though Parsippany Focus notes Trader Joe's also operates nearby stores in Morristown. Trader Joe's has not published an address or opening date for the Parsippany store.
Municipal clearance for the physical work came on June 1, when the Parsippany-Troy Hills Planning Board granted preliminary and final site plan approval, allowing Brixmor to renovate vacant storefronts and upgrade parking. Available anchor spaces at the center currently include contiguous vacancies as large as 27,229 square feet, the kind of room left behind after past anchors Marshalls, HomeGoods and Blink Fitness closed or relocated, per Brixmor's own leasing materials.
A Shopping Center Dating to the Eisenhower Era
Morris Hills Shopping Center has deep roots in the township, having opened in 1957 at Routes 46 and 202 across from Town Hall, anchored originally by an Acme supermarket and a W.T. Grant department store, according to the Daily Record's historical account. Occupancy at the center had dropped below 35% in recent years following the departure of those anchors, underscoring just how much ground the redevelopment is trying to make up.
Paris Baguette will join other Morris County cafés in Morristown and Rockaway, with another nearby location in Livingston, per Parsippany Focus. The chain, founded in Seoul, South Korea, now counts more than 4,000 locations worldwide and runs its North American headquarters out of Moonachie. Company-wide, Paris Baguette closed 2025 with a record 77 new North American café openings, pushing its regional footprint to 285 locations while notching 20 consecutive quarters of sales growth, according to PR Newswire.
A Local Twist: Nutella's Hometown Connection
One detail gives the Parsippany opening a distinctly local flavor. Paris Baguette features Nutella in several of its menu items through a brand partnership, and Ferrero North America, the company behind Nutella, operates its 135,000-square-foot corporate headquarters right in Parsippany at 7 Campus Drive, where it relocated in 2019, according to Parsippany Focus's separate reporting on the company.
The bakery chain's growth has been fueled by investment upstream as well. Paris Baguette broke ground on a $160 million, 260,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Burleson, Texas, slated to open in 2027 as its first production facility on the continent, supplying dough and baked components to franchisees across the U.S. and Canada, per Manufacturing Dive. The brand is pursuing a national expansion goal of 1,000 U.S. cafés by the end of the decade.
That momentum hasn't gone unnoticed in the franchise industry. Entrepreneur magazine ranked Paris Baguette No. 29 overall in its January Franchise 500 list and No. 1 in the bakery-café category, a 13-spot climb from the year before. For Parsippany residents, though, the bigger question remains simpler: when the doors at Morris Hills will actually open. Parsippany Focus has said it will share opening dates and grand opening details for both Paris Baguette and Trader Joe's as they become available.
