r shops - three of which are located in Ljubljana and one in Slovenia's second-largest city Maribor.

"We are very happy with the opening of the shop in Čopova street, the popular shopping street in Ljubljana. We are constantly looking for new spots with steady visit and new franchise partners," head of the Backwerk subsidiary in Austria Ingrid Dubowy said.

The expansion will be managed from Austria, where the Essen-based bakery chain operates a total of 21 shops.

Backwerk is considered a pioneer of self-service bakeries and is a leader in Europe in the industry. Together with its franchise partners, it employs more than 2,000 people and manages more than 320 shops in Germany and five other European countries.