Paris' oldest bakery folds after 202 years

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PARIS, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The oldest bakery in Paris will close after 202 years in business because of rising rent and real estate prices, its current owner says.

Claude Esnault, 66, has operated the Au Richelieu Boulangerie bakery, in the rue de Richelieu in central Paris, since 1969 and hoped to sell the store to a younger baker, but after landlords doubled his rent, it is au revoir to the business that sells about 200 baguettes per day, Radio France Internationale reported Friday.

The rent on the facility is about to rise from 18,000 euros ($22,860) per year to 35,000 euros ($44,450) per year, he said.

The bakery, in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood near the Opera Garnier and the Louvre museum, is in an area with many sushi restaurants and shops that now cater to Japanese tourists, RFI said.