Charmi Shah opened her first Tous les Jours store, in Livermore, California, in May.
Café and pastry concept Tous les Jours is continuing expansion in the United States and finding new franchisees ready to step up to the challenge of business ownership. Among the new franchisees is Charmi Shah, who runs the Livermore, California, location that opened in May 2023.
“Business was always on my mind and I had a vision and dream to have my own business,” said Shah. “So, I was looking for a lot of opportunities, and Tous les Jours resonated with my vision.”
TLJ originally started in South Korea. Meaning “every day” in French, the brand focuses on everyday pastries and coffee being freshly made. Tony Ahn, CEO of U.S. operations, has been in charge of marketing the brand nationally since 2017.
Related: French-Asian Bakery Tous les Jours Makes U.S. Franchise Push
Finding franchisees like Shah has been a part of Ahn’s growth strategy with TLJ in the last couple years.
“It’s been quite a successful journey for Tous les Jours,” said Ahn, and the brand opened its 100th U.S. location in late July.
Tony Ahn is CEO of U.S. operations for Tous les Jours.
Ahn is confident in the brand’s quality, and that confidence translates to growth. Ahn also attributed a lack of a marketing fee as part of the appeal, with all expenses being paid for by the 5 percent royalty; there are also benefits for franchisees opening multiple locations.
Shah was always interested in entrepreneurship. With a master’s degree in business administration, she knew exactly what she should be looking for when it was time to take the plunge into franchising. As a frequent customer of Tous les Jours, Shah already knew the product when she got in contact.
Though they’ve only been open for a few months, Shah and her husband have already risen to the challenge.
“There have been a lot of ups and downs as we are going now into two months,” said Shah. “The first month was the toughest for all of us because this was the first experience as a franchise owner.”
Tous les Jours franchisee Charmi Shah.
Shah isn’t afraid to admit that she expected difficulty and is proud of what she’s learned so far. There’s a big different between expectations and reality, she said. Jumping into a new experience and learning onsite were difficult, especially in regards to operations, Shah said, calling it “a whole different ball game.”
What helped in the first month was the backing of the TLJ team, Shah added. One example she brought up was during construction, as the TLJ operations team worked to prepare Shah for opening and running the business. Once the location was open, they continued to offer help and advice whenever a challenge presented itself.
“It made things a lot more comfortable,” she said.
This support is a feature for Tous les Jours, Ahn said, and one of the ways the concept attracts new operators like Shah. Considering franchisees are “a part of our family from the day of initial application,” Ahn said, that support is necessary to its success.
Shah said she is interested in opening more stores, but for now remains focused on the performance of her Livermore location.
“TLJ’s vision is to become the most admired global bakery chain by customers and employees, and thus contribute to the global community,” said Ahn. “We are confident that the quality and variety of our products and the value would make us successful in global markets.”
Tous les Jours has an initial investment of $718,230 to $938,894. Average sales are not disclosed in the brand’s franchise disclosure document.