Corner Bakery to open 18 Seattle-area units starting next year

Dallas -- Fast-casual bakery concept Corner Bakery Café said Thursday it has executed a deal with a franchise group to open the chain’s first restaurants in the Pacific Northwest beginning in 2013.



Northwest Bakery Cafe, a group of restaurant operators that owns 95 Jack in the Box locations, is slated to open 18 Corner Bakery franchised restaurants in and around Seattle over the next seven years.



With two locations expected to open in the next 24 months, Corner Bakery Cafe said it is currently reviewing sites for its first restaurants, which will likely include cafes in Bellevue and Seattle.



"Seattle is the perfect market in which to launch our expansion into the Northwest," said Jonathan Benjamin, VP of franchise sales for Corner Bakery Cafe.



Corner Bakery currently operates 140 restaurants in 15 states; to date, 22 franchise agreements have been signed for more than 279 new restaurants. Corner Bakery said it plans to double its footprint in the U.S. over the next four years through franchise and company-owned cafes.