Fauchon Paris café comes to Gemmayzeh

Abchee invests $1.5 million for franchise

Fauchon, the world-renowned French gourmet caterer, has opened its doors in Gemmayzeh with a 220-square-meter store. The franchise was brought into Lebanon by Foodhalls, a company founded by Michel Abchee, cofounder of Citymall and ADMIC, the franchise holder of the BHV and Monoprix brands.

The store's location, facing Paul, was a great start for the franchise. “It is a perfect place for the busy Lebanese businessperson looking for a change in their lifestyle,” said Johanna Abchee, General Manager at Fauchon- Lebanon.

The Fauchon boutique provides French gourmet specialty products for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The store offers Fauchon’s famous pastries, a wide range of breads, and a large gift selection.

“The total cost of bringing in the franchise, as well as the site preparation, and the operational costs, required a large investment of around $1.5 million”, said Abchee. The store will have other locations, said Abchee: “The flagship store is certainly in Gemmayzeh, but we need to cover other areas outside Beirut."

Bringing Fauchon to the country has been a project that Abchee wanted to develop for some time. “The timing was never right. It is probably still not right, in light of the current situation, but this is Lebanon, you have to adapt,” she said. Fauchon has one more important sector to penetrate yet, as a caterer for dinners and events.