

The rumor was true, and La Boulange founder Pascal Rigo is reopening some of the shuttered bakery locations under a slightly different name, La Boulangerie de San Francisco. Rigo told the Business Times that he's opting to revive six of he bakery chain's most popular locations  Pine Street, Fillmore Street, Union Street, Cole Valley, Hayes Valley and Noe Valley  after feeling like former customers were "lost" without them. "They were not sure where they’d buy that almond croissant," he said, implying there are no other bakeries worthy patronizing in the city. "We cannot let that go."

After Starbucks bought La Boulange in 2012, it did not become clear until later that they planned to offload all 23 locations of the bakery, having bought the brand primarily for the recipes and Rigo's expertise in mass productions of baked goods.

As of last week we learned that LA-based fast-casual chain Lemonade is looking to take over the former La Boulange in West Portal, and the remaining 16 stores in the Bay Area and L.A. are all still up for grabs. Rigo says he's content only to concentrate on a half dozen for now, and says he's "more nervous" now than he was when he first opened. The location at 2325 Pine Street will be the first to reopen, as Inside Scoop notes, on Thursday, October 1, with the others to follow at a pace of one per week.

Food-wise, things will be similar if not exactly the same, with Rigo saying that La Boulangerie de San Francisco will be "a lot more rustic than it was [with] big slices of everything, with lots of fruit, and less cream."

Previously: Starbucks May Let La Boulange Locations Stay Open, Possibly Under Founder Pascal Rigo

Starbucks Will Shutter All 23 La Boulange Locations