Artyom Khachatryan on “bringing” PAUL to Armenia and Galaxy’s development plans

At 08:01 in the morning, at dawn, the smell of freshly baked croissants and coffee wafts through Abovyan Street in Yerevan: this is how the PAUL coffee shop welcomes the first guests of the day.

PAUL, which has a 133-year history, is located in a colorful building in Yerevan, built in 1884. It is a story within history, which became a reality as a result of the activities of Galaxy Group of Companies.

We spoke with Artyom Khachatryan, co-founder of Galaxy, co-chairman of the board of directors, who manages the group’s hotels, services and sales department, about the entry of “Art de Vivre” or the French art of living and the prestigious global brand for post-war Armenia.

How the day starts at PAUL

The day at PAUL starts at 3 a.m. when the first oven is turned on. At 08:01, freshly baked croissants, bread and pastries should already be on the counter. With a decade-long tradition, work at PAUL is organized in three shifts.

The flagship cafe is designed to be able to serve 5 more cafes. The first PAUL in Yerevan, looking small from the outside, has many “secret” corners: separate kitchens for preparing croissants and main dishes, storage rooms, a cold section and the “kingdom of bread” on the ground floor, where each dough is aged in the conditions from which needs. It is a fantastic culture with different tastes and aromas.

A delicious “black” brand and a meeting on a narrow street in Paris

The decision to bring PAUL to Armenia was based on personal experience. While traveling, we often encountered the “black” brand at airports, train stations and many corners of cities. We first fell in love with its coffee and croissants, and knowing more of its centuries-old history, we also fell in love with the culture it shaped.

PAUL was founded in 1889 in northern France by the Mayo family. Today it is managed by the fifth generation of its creators. The founders of PAUL made a number of changes in the bread baking process: they started using machines to knead bread dough. As a result of the First World War, many young people lost their hands, and for kneading bread dough, a new solution had to be invented, which was done at PAUL. They are also the first to age the dough to make the bread lighter.

These stories inspired us even more and we wrote the first letter to the founders. In the letter where we said who we are, we said that we are interested in PAUL and want to introduce it to Armenia. They also liked our story and agreed to meet. My brother and I went to the meeting.

We expected to be called to a large factory, but the address they gave us led us to the PAUL cafe on a narrow, colorful street in Paris. It was early in the morning, we got a croissant and coffee and went up to the office, which was on the upper floor of the cafeteria. It was a small space where everyone was in robes. It didn’t have a classic office environment and it was obvious that the people there were doing different work. The impression was that we entered a family that has its own unique life and culture.

The meeting was very warm, we signed the first memorandum of cooperation and it seemed to us that that was it, but from that moment to the opening of PAUL in Yerevan, 5 years passed (smiles – author). We did not expect that it would be such a difficult process: the selection of the area was very important, the import of a number of products from France, then discussions, a pandemic, a war, until we reached the point when Yerevan PAUL became a reality.

The same croissant in different parts of the world

Proper staff training plays an important role in the PAUL opening process. Four lines are particularly important: a “confectioner” who deals mainly with sweets, a “bread chef” whose area of ​​responsibility is bread, a cook who controls everything related to the kitchen and a hall operations manager whose main task is to follow the window. It should be constantly refreshed, not only for “cross-selling”, but also to provide an opportunity to pick up a fresh croissant or bread on the way home or to work.

The managers of these four directions of Yerevan PAUL were trained in France several months before the opening, worked in various local PAUL branches, small and large, in the city center and in the suburbs, to understand the uniqueness of each cafe.

A month before the opening, French specialists came to Armenia and observed the process on the spot. For a month we worked in “test mode” without customers. Every morning at 03:00 the ovens were turned on, the croissants and bread were baked and at precisely 08:00 they were placed on the window. This is how we worked until the approval of the PAUL management: “everything is in accordance with the accepted standards, you can open.”

PAUL’s ideology is that their croissants everywhere should be the same as in France, have the same appearance, quality and price.

Late riser Yerevan and the combination of Armenian-French approaches

At Galaxy we place a lot of importance on research and before starting a new project we study the market to understand who the main players are. We have a tradition: before we start a business, we must be able to write on the board ten differences from other players in the industry, if we don’t find them, we don’t start.

We want not just to build a well-functioning business, but to make our customers’ lives better, to set new standards. In the case of PAUL, it is “Art de Vivre” or the French art of living, which we tried to adapt to the Armenian market. The grab-and-go approach is still not very popular among Armenian customers, so we divided the PAUL hall in Yerevan into two parts. In the first part everything is fast: drink coffee, eat a croissant and go, in the second part everything is “slower”, here you can have lunch or dinner with your family.

One of the features of PAUL is the ability to have breakfast or coffee early in the morning. There aren’t many places in Yerevan that open early. Basically we wake up late, while in Europe many people even have business meetings at 8 in the morning, I think this culture is gradually forming in Yerevan as well. Especially in hot weather, I notice that people come quite early, drink coffee and have breakfast.

The preparatory work for the opening of PAUL took so much time due to the need to combine the expectations of the Armenian customer and the adopted French model. In the case of a cafe, the Armenian customer expects service, so we had to add service to the French model of “look, grab and go” and do it in a way that would not affect the quality of the dishes presented. I think it worked.

PAUL, located in the Yerevan building of the same age

As I said before, the location of the cafe was crucial for us. Together with our French colleagues, we toured all the central parts of the city, watched the Cascade, Saryan. We wanted PAUL to open in a place that has history. As a result, we chose the old Yerevan building at 8 Abovyan Street, built in 1884 and belonging to the merchant Barsegh Egiazaryan. The building and PAUL are almost the same age. The descendants of Barsegh Eghiazaryan later used it for charitable purposes, the upper floor housed a hospital, and during the Soviet years it was the residence of the secretaries of the Communist Party.

A lot has been done to maintain the building. The renovation lasted two years. I am very grateful to the team of architects, they paid attention to every detail. Everyone worked very carefully so as not to damage the facade of the building. I believe that our architecture should not only be preserved, but also accentuated properly. The history of the building also inspired the founders of PAUL.

So this is how we merged Armenian and Yerevan history with the great French history.

French baguette, Armenian “bread sharing” and PAUL in the regions

Bread is one of the important and common components of Armenian and French culture. A person holding a baguette is immediately associated with France. Many types of bread are sold in every corner of Paris. Bread is a very important symbol for Armenians. In common language, we refer to eating as “eat bread”, “share bread” with someone, and if we want to treat a person negatively, we say “he was a man without salt and bread” (ungrateful-author) . In Armenia, the traditional lavash is baked from generation to generation, in France it is a baguette. I think Armenians and French have always been inspired by each other’s culture. Of course, Charles Aznavour and the Armenian community in France played a big role here. With this in mind, Galaxy will continue to represent French business in Armenia. We have signed several memorandums of cooperation, there will be important news soon, and we are especially grateful to the French side for the warm cooperation.

In the near future, the second PAUL cafe will open its doors in Yerevan Mall. In general, we plan to have 4-5 cafes in the capital, after which we will focus on the regions: Gyumri, Dilijan, Tsakhkadzor. I think that especially in the case of Gyumri, we will have an interesting cultural project. We are very excited about this idea.

Difficulties and responsibility

Difficulties make us stronger and more flexible. Yes, today the situation in Armenia and Artsakh is difficult, but that is exactly why we should not stop. We must work, the economy must be viable, we must create jobs and provide opportunities for our country.

More than 2,200 people currently work at Galaxy, and we have a responsibility to them. One of the ways to deal with the situation is to introduce new projects in Armenia. I love our country very much, my children – my two daughters and my son – are growing up here, in my hometown. I want them, looking at us, to see that they have to stay, work and find solutions in their own country.

This is Shahramanian

Photos by Emin Aristakesyan