Paul (bakery)

Julien Holder married Suzanne, the granddaughter of Charlemagne Mayot. The Holders opened their own bakery in Lille, in 1935. The Holders and their son Francis took over a better known bakery-pâtisserie owned by the Paul family, and kept the "Paul" name.

Following the death of his father in 1958, Francis Holder took over the family bakery in Lille. With his mother's assistance he expanded the business and when the Nouvelles Galeries opened in 1965, he immediately offered to supply their bread. Under the "Moulin Bleu" Francis Holder provided bread to Auchan and Monoprix from his bakery in Lambersart, and by 1970 he was able to purchase an abandoned industrial site at La Madeleine, in the suburbs of Lille, transforming it into an enormous bakery.

The installation in 1972 of a wood stove at the original Lille bakery proved so popular that, as the Paul chain expanded into French malls in Paris and other major French cities, it was incorporated into the general layout. Apart from a change of livery in 1993 (to the now-signature black), the layout and visual aesthetic of Paul stores has not changed.

Paul at the Louvre museum, Paris

As of August 2011 there are over 436 franchised Paul bakery/café restaurants (326 in France and 127 in 27 other countries) in France, Spain, Oman, Azerbaijan, Belgium, United Kingdom, Qatar, Czech Republic, South Africa, Greece, Romania, Morocco, Lebanon, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Bahrain, Japan, Taiwan, Jordan, Egypt, India, Ukraine, the United States of America, Malaysia, Ivory Coast and Chile. As of September 2015, Paul also had several bakeries in Almaty, Kazakhstan (both in the city centre and in Shymbulak ski resort). Since 2019 in (Tashkent) Uzbekistan.

Products include pastries, cakes, beignets, croissants, sandwiches, soups, quiches, tarts, crepes, eggs, and over 140 types of bread. They also have tea, wine, beer, mineral water, soft drinks and coffee-based drinks.

• List of bakery cafés

• Official website