La Petite Boulangerie

La Petite Boulangerie ("The Little Bakery") was an American bakery chain. Originally a two-store company owned by Food Resources Inc., it was purchased by PepsiCo in 1982 and franchised to various operators, including Food Resources in California and Arizona, and Calny, Inc. in the Seattle area. At its peak, La Petite Boulangerie had at least 140 locations,[2] including Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, Sacramento, and a small number of bakeries in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.[3]

La Petite Boulangerie
TypeFast-food, Coffee Shop, Bakery
IndustryRestaurants
FateAcquired by Cucina Holdings, Inc in December 2000
Founded1977, San Francisco
DefunctDecember 2000
HeadquartersMill Valley, California[1]
Number of locations
68 (1993)
ParentPepsiCo

In August 1986, Food Resources sued PepsiCo, alleging that it was misled about La Petite Boulangerie's sales and profit potential. Calny filed a similar lawsuit in March 1987.[4] The Calny suit was resolved with PepsiCo's purchase of Calny in November 1987, which also gave it control of Calny's 142 west coast Taco Bell locations.[5]

The chain was purchased by Mrs. Fields Original Cookies, Inc. on March 31, 1987 for $15 million.[6][7]

The chain was then acquired by InterWest Partners in July 1993 with a goal of converting it to a chain of gourmet coffee-bakery cafes. The chain had 68 stores at this point, none of which were franchised.[8] Java City purchased the chain from InterWest in May 1994.[9] Cucina Holdings, Inc. acquired Java City in December 2000,[10] but by the end of the month, La Petite Boulangerie was defunct.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Gunther finds himself at home at Boulangerie". Nation's Restaurant News. 1987-05-04. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  2. Liddle, Alan (1986-04-14). "Bakery testing supermarket site; La Petite Boulangerie opens shop at Phoenix location". Nation's restaurant news. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09.
  3. Liddle, Alan (1986-11-17). "La Petite Boulangerie pushes new products, image". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  4. "Calny sues PepsiCo, Petite Boulangerie". Nation's Restaurant News. 1987-03-16. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  5. "Pepsico Agrees To Buy Calny". The New York Times. Reuters. 1987-11-04. p. D5. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  6. "Mrs. Fields' Original Cookies, Inc. -- Company History". Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  7. "Earnings flat at PepsiCo". The New York Times. 1987-04-30. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  8. Dunphy, Stephen (1993-07-08). "The Newsletter". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  9. "Java City acquires La Petite Boulangerie from InterWest Partners". Archived from the original on 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  10. "Foley Hoag LLP - Mergers and Acquisitions - Client Successes". Archived from the original on 2010-10-29. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  11. Pomerantz, Dorothy (2000-12-25). "Raw Deal". Forbes. Retrieved 2009-11-10.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.