Dallas-based Corner Bakery Cafe announced a new area development agreement signaling the brand’s first entry into Northern California.
Franchise partner Buon Hospitality is led by industry veteran Sam Hirbod, CEO and president of Pacific Convenience & Fuels LLC, a well-established franchising company that operates more than 500 fuel, restaurant, and convenience businesses in seven states.
Under the Buon Hospitality umbrella, Hirbod and his team will open a total of 32 Corner Bakery Cafe locations in the Greater Bay Area in seven years. The first two locations will open by mid-2012, and the total footprint will extend as south as San Jose and as north as Napa Valley.
“After extensive due-diligence comparing Corner Bakery Cafe to its competitors, we found it to be the premium brand in the bakery cafe space,” says Sam Hirbod, president and CEO of Buon Hospitality. “Corner Bakery Cafe’s strong made-to-order breakfast, lunch, and dinner offerings and inviting atmosphere appeal to every demographic, and it complements our customers’ needs, palates, and lifestyles. Our partnership with Corner Bakery Cafe offers the community a restaurant experience that the Greater Bay Area is missing, and will bring over two thousand jobs to the region in the next seven years.”
“Given our success in Southern California, we’ve always been interested in finding the right franchise partner for Northern California, and Sam and his team at Buon Hospitality definitely fit the bill,” says John LaBarge, vice president of franchise business at Corner Bakery Cafe. “They are rooted in the area, they take a lot of pride in their work and they are already showing an incredible dedication to growing the Corner Bakery Cafe brand. Furthermore, their ability to penetrate the Greater Bay Area market so swiftly and so aggressively speaks to the strength of their organization and its infrastructure. Our brand is in good hands.”
Buon Hospitality’s Greater Bay Area territory includes San Francisco, San Jose, East Bay, Marin Country, and Napa Valley, and represents the largest Corner Bakery Cafe market to date.
Buon Hospitality is currently in deep negotiations with multiple sites throughout the market for their first two Corner Bakery Cafe locations, scheduled to open by mid- 2012. The 32 planned Northern California locations bring the total number of committed franchise locations for Corner Bakery Cafe to more than 200, more than doubling the number of total locations in the next three and a half years.
