This month, for Ici Seattle, we met the “French Guys“, these French entrepreneurs who are making so much noise in Seattle with their new mobile bakery concept! It was in a relaxed atmosphere that we had the pleasure to talk with Thibault, founder of the French Guys, about his background, his success story, and his mouth-watering projects.
Who is behind The French Guys? Can you introduce yourself?
Thibault, 31 years old, originally from Britain in the west of France, living in Seattle for 2 years now. I work at Amazon and I launched The French Guys in parallel to my job at the beginning of 2021. I have a professional background in sales, project management, negotiation, and business management and always had this idea to create and develop a new business model for a French bakery in Seattle.
Meeting a Chef here allowed me to develop this idea and settle a partnership with La Parisienne French Bakery, the most authentic French bakery in Seattle. We work closely with them on the development of our products, purchasing materials, packaging, etc.
The French Guys is actually a family, a mix of generations to bring an authentic French touch to Seattle and its surroundings.
Can you tell us a few words about the concept of The French Guys?
The concept is very simple: it is a mobile French bakery!
We break classic bakeries codes; we are a bakery that delivers directly to your home up to 25 miles around Seattle (no Uber Eats or Deliveroo). We are a bakery with an online store – which is very rare in this business – to optimize the customer experience. On top of that, we are present at various Farmers Markets around Seattle.
Do you have a particular specialty?
Our big extra is the direct delivery to your door!
In these Covid times, it was important to bring something new to the table. Even if all the bakeries have reopened now, it is a very popular concept that we can develop everywhere.
Our customers particularly appreciate our olive fougasse, our plain brioche, the quiche lorraine, the Kouign-Amann, our Box 4 desserts, and the Sourdough bread.
You started in the middle of a pandemic, how did you manage the situation?
As I already have a full-time job, it did not personally affect me. It was just two friends, wanting to start a fun project to please their friends and the French community in Seattle. Today, the story is different as the concept is very popular and we hired two people to work on farmers’ markets and deliveries. We are now structuring The French Guys to be ready for next year. The main idea is to remain cool, young, and accessible, with exceptional product quality.
Our logo represents this idea of seriousness without being too serious, that’s “The French Guys”.
To finish answering this question, the pandemic did not affect us at all. On the contrary, it helped us launch the global project and the delivery concept.
What are your plans for the next few months?
The high season is almost done as the seasonal Farmers’ markets end mid-October. We will continue to make deliveries on weekends until the end of November and then we will close for the whole month of December. I am going back to France to recharge my batteries after these two years of Covid. Our friends at La Parisienne will have something to spoil you during the holidays!
For 2022 schedule is very busy but, so far, we prefer to remain discreet about it. The famous Galette des Rois will of course be available for delivery around Seattle in January. We will continue to expand our product line and develop our presence on Farmers markets. There will also be something new on the website.
The year 2021 allowed us to test the business model and observe consumer feedback. The next year will be a pivotal one for our development. Be patient, we will come to you, I promise!
What message would you like to give to our readers?
To you, whom we have already delivered, thank you for the unwavering support since the beginning. We are happy to have the support of the French community. To you who do not know The French Guys yet, we hope to meet you one day and let you taste our products. The last word, stay cool, be positive and help each other, we need love and a good mood in this new world. The rest is not important… “Kenavo” as we say in my region, Bye!
A big thank you to Thibault for sharing this and see you on the French Guys website to place your order!
