Mother and daughter patisserie expansion slows for family expansion

A New Mexico family business is looking forward to the next entrepreneurial generation.

Mother Tami O'Bryan and daughter Victoria Ruggles opened Le Macaron French Pastries in Albuquerque a little over two years ago, at 6241 Riverside Plaza Ln. The plan was to expand to two new locations this year, said O’Bryan, but Ruggles surprised her mom with a positive pregnancy test instead.

Ruggles and her husband are expecting twins, which is putting expansion plans on hold, temporarily.

Ironically, Ruggles' bridal shower is what gave her mom the idea to open the patisserie. Ruggles and her mom spent months practicing making the macarons for the bridal shower but had to admit defeat.

“There was no way we could do this ourselves,” said Ruggles.

Instead of home-baking macarons themselves, they ordered them online.

O’Bryan reached out to Le Macaron French Pastries to order macarons for the event and while on the website she noticed the pastry shop had franchising opportunities.

The Le Macaron French Pastries franchise is a national chain started by French mother and daughter pair Rosalie Guillem and Audrey Guillem-Saba.

The chain has a central baker who makes the macrons and other sweets and then ships them to the franchise locations.

“The rose-flavored macaron was what made me buy in (to the business),” said O’Bryan.

They got off to a bit of a rocky start, said O’Bryan, because she started business discussions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

“It took us pretty close to a year from the time we signed the dotted line to opening,” said O’Bryan.

The store opened its doors in April 2022, but there were shortages of supplies and workers.

There is still a "we are hiring" sign on the door.

O’Bryan said the economy is not great right now for products that are considered fancy.

“People are not spending money on deserts,” said O'Bryan.

The business struggles with passing prices onto customers, she said.

“We cannot eat (cost) anymore,” said O'Bryan.

However, Ruggles is confident the holiday season will bring a wave of customers.

“Christmas is really good for us. Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day are absolutely insane. Then graduation and wedding season, we go through slower periods but then the holidays we’ll have people coming in,” said Ruggles.

The O’Bryan family is no stranger to running franchises. O'Bryan's husband, Dan O’Bryan, owns and operates a Chick-fil-A.

Ruggles said she grew up running around the back of her dad’s Chick-fil-A.

She and her mother had always considered opening a coffee shop or bakery, but the support of a franchise is what gave them the confidence to move forward.

“We have always baked together and just loved the idea of having a bakery together,” said O’Bryan.

They have a franchise agreement in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho and plan to expand further in the cities, according to O’Bryan.

“I kind of derailed that,” joked Ruggles, referring to her pregnancy.

O'Bryan said she's still looking to expand but when exactly that'll happen is still up in the air.

For now, they just have the one Le Macaron French Pastries open Sunday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.