Le Pain Quotidien âhad tremendous legacy,â says Aurifyâs John Rigos.
Aurify Brands, the New York City-based operator of five restaurant chains, closed the acquisition last June of Le Pain Quotidien U.S., with about 50 locations, rescuing the stores and their employees from bankruptcy proceedings in a Belgium court.
âThis brand had tremendous legacy,â co-CEO John Rigos said, but it had âlost its way, wasnât being invested in. We realized, just being mediocre wasnât going to cut it, so we started pulling resources together.â
Then in August, the Maison Kayser brand came up for sale, too, a European-style bakery chain, and Aurify bought 12 of its 16 locations and will convert them to LPQ. Rigos decided they needed to play defense on that chain, because if someone else bought it they would be fierce competitors to LPQ.