A Korean bakery-café chain that opened a Bellingham location just four months ago is now plotting a far bigger footprint across Greater Boston — roughly 20 locations, with a Mansfield Crossing café already on the calendar for early 2027.
Franchisees Ankur Sahni and Megha Arora-Sahni are leading the push, according to WhatNow, which reports the pair's ambitions have grown well beyond the eight-unit development agreement they originally signed. That initial deal, which set the Sahnis up as Paris Baguette franchisees in Massachusetts, was detailed by 1851 Franchise, which described the couple as former investment bankers turned bakery operators.
The Sahnis opened their first Paris Baguette in Bellingham in June, at 253 Hartford Avenue, Suite C — an address confirmed on the chain's own Paris Baguette store locator. That debut is now serving as the launchpad for a much larger regional rollout.
Mansfield Crossing Café Set for Early 2027
Next up is Mansfield Crossing, the open-air shopping center at 280 School Street where the franchisees are preparing to bring in a Paris Baguette café slated to open in early 2027, per the same WhatNow report. Mansfield Crossing itself already lists Paris Baguette among its merchants, alongside tenants like Burton's Grill & Bar, CAVA, Kohl's, L.L.Bean, MiniLuxe, and Sephora, according to WS Development, which manages the property. The center sits at the intersection of I-495 and Route 140, a location WS Development says draws shoppers from a regional trade area stretching from Providence to Boston, and the site's open-air, village-like layout is built around a natural four-acre pond.
Beyond Mansfield, the franchisees are scouting additional suburbs including Brookline, Framingham, Lexington, and Newton, the WhatNow report notes — though specific addresses and opening timelines for those sites have not yet been determined. The pair is reportedly seeking highly visible, accessible spaces, with potential sites ranging from open-air lifestyle centers and mixed-use developments to neighborhood retail plazas and walkable downtown areas.
A Chain Already Rooted in Massachusetts
Paris Baguette isn't entirely new to the Bay State. The chain already operates locations in Cambridge's Central Square and at The Abby in Quincy, the same account states, meaning the Sahnis' expansion would layer new suburban cafés on top of an existing urban presence. Founded in Seoul in 1988, Paris Baguette now operates more than 4,000 locations worldwide, offering pastries, breads, coffee, sandwiches, salads, and wraps — most of it served cafeteria-style, with customers grabbing a tray and tongs before checking out at the counter.
Nationally, the brand has described its ambitions in sweeping terms. One WhatNow account put Paris Baguette's current U.S. footprint at 260 locations en route to 1,000 nationwide cafés by 2030, while a separate announcement from PR Newswire marked the opening of the chain's 300th U.S. café at Philadelphia International Airport this past May, also framed as keeping the company on track for that same 1,000-café target by 2030. The two figures don't line up, and neither source reconciles the gap.
Rapid Growth, and Plenty of Competition
Whatever the exact count, the broader trend lines point to aggressive growth. Chain Store Age reported that Paris Baguette has logged 19 consecutive quarters of positive comparable sales growth and 18 straight quarters of rising comparable traffic, while awarding more than 225 new franchise agreements and opening nearly 70 new locations in a recent year, with Massachusetts named among the company's priority growth markets alongside Rhode Island, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The chain is targeting suburban lifestyle centers and urban spots in the top 25 U.S. and Canadian markets, according to Restaurant Dive, which also named Corner Bakery, Pret A Manger, La Madeleine, and Great Harvest Bakery Café as key competitors — none of which top 200 U.S. units, giving Paris Baguette a sizable scale advantage if its expansion plans hold.
For now, Greater Boston diners curious about the brand can find fall menu items rotating through the Bellingham café, including a Spider Mochi Donut, a Caramel Apple Streusel Donut, a Dirt & Worms Chocolate Chiffon Cake slice, a Pumpkin Chai Oatmilk Latte, a Ghost Pepper Iced Hot Chocolate, and an Iced Caramel Apple Matcha Latte — a seasonal lineup the chain rotates throughout the year. Whether the next café opens in Brookline, Framingham, Lexington, Newton, or somewhere else entirely remains to be seen, but Mansfield's early 2027 timeline gives suburban Massachusetts its clearest marker yet for where this expansion is headed next.
