A South Korean bakery brand that built its U.S. business in major metropolitan areas is now pushing into smaller regional markets, betting that demand for Korean-style baked goods has expanded well beyond traditional immigrant communities.
Tous les Jours, a bakery-café chain operated by CJ Foodville, the food-service subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, is preparing to open a new franchise location in Grand Rapids, Mich., next month. The store will be located near East Beltline Avenue, one of the city’s primary commercial corridors, and will become the company’s second location in western Michigan.
The opening may appear modest on its own. But it reflects a broader shift in how South Korean consumer brands are approaching the U.S. market. After years of concentrating growth in cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta, Korean food and beverage companies are increasingly targeting secondary American cities where awareness of Korean culture has risen and competition remains less intense.
Grand Rapids represents the type of market that many international brands once overlooked. As western Michigan’s largest city and a regional hub for commerce and distribution, it offers access to a growing consumer base without the costs associated with larger coastal markets.
The company said the store will be operated by local franchise owner Thuy Su, who became familiar with the brand as a customer before deciding to open a location in her hometown. Her experience reflects a trend that has become increasingly common among Korean food franchises in the United States, where local entrepreneurs rather than corporate operators are driving expansion.
Tous les Jours entered the U.S. market in 2004 and has since grown to more than 200 locations nationwide. Unlike traditional American bakery chains, the company combines breads, pastries, cakes and specialty beverages within a café environment, a format that has gained popularity among consumers seeking alternatives to conventional coffee-shop offerings.
The company has also invested heavily in infrastructure to support future growth. CJ Foodville operates a large production facility in Gainesville, Ga., capable of producing more than 100 million frozen dough products and cakes annually. The facility serves as a key supply hub for the company’s U.S. operations and provides the manufacturing capacity needed to support a rapidly expanding franchise network.
That supply-chain investment is central to the company’s long-term ambitions. CJ Foodville has set a goal of operating 1,000 Tous les Jours locations across the United States by 2030, a target that would place the brand among the largest bakery-café operators in the country.
For South Korean consumer companies, the significance of the Grand Rapids opening extends beyond a single storefront. It signals growing confidence that Korean food brands can compete not only in large gateway cities but also in the broader American mainstream, where demand for Korean products is increasingly driven by local consumers rather than solely by Korean-American communities.
