Ukrainian bakery Lviv Croissants opens first US location in Georgia.

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A Ukraine-based eatery Lviv Croissants has opened its first U.S. location in Roswell, a suburb of Atlanta, on Aug.

10. Founded in Lviv in 2015, the chain has since expanded to over 180 stores across Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia and now the U.S. The store is primarily owned by Lviv Croissants corporate and Brett Larrabee, the CEO of Lviv Croissants USA, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Larrabee, who has nearly 40 years of experience in food franchising, mentioned that he and co-founder Andrii Halytskyi have long been eager to introduce Lviv Croissants to the U.S. Larrabee, who was in Ukraine for business, noticed the long lines forming outside Lviv Croissants restaurants, sparking their interest in expanding to the American market. "Every time I went by Lviv (Croissants), they were packed," he said. "After 37 years, I know what works and what doesn't, what consumers want and don't want. (It) has a high-quality product and offers great coffee, great food and a great ambience where people can go and hang out and be part of a community," he was quoted as saying.

Together, the partners have invested £220,000 in the Lviv Croissants bakery in Roswell and the local production of frozen croissants. The facility will be able to produce baked goods for about 20 of the chain's restaurants in North America. In addition to traditional dishes for Lviv Croissants, the U.S. menu includes croissants with avocado, bacon, peanut butter, and a wider selection of cold drinks.

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Development Manager, Canadian Correspondent

Olena Goncharova is a development manager and Canadian correspondent for the Kyiv Independent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper's Canadian correspondent in June 2018.

She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master's degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months.

The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.Read more