Chip City Cookies has promoted Nicolas "Nico" Gabriel Baizan de Aldecoa to president, the New York-based specialty cookie bakery announced Tuesday, placing a leader hired less than a year ago in charge of driving profitability across its 39-store footprint. Baizan de Aldecoa joined the company in August 2025 as senior director of retail operations.

The Promotion

Chief Executive Fred LeFranc, who stepped into the top role at Chip City, credited the appointment to demonstrated operational credibility rather than an external search. "We did not go find a leader. We grew one," LeFranc said. Paulina Orillac, vice president at Enlightened Hospitality Investments and a Chip City board member, said the hire's enthusiasm for the brand registered with both the team and guests.

Operator Background

Baizan de Aldecoa's foodservice roots run deep: his career began in family-owned restaurant and manufacturing enterprises before extending to work alongside chef José Andrés and culinary leadership posts at concepts in New York and Chicago. That hands-on background aligns with how Chip City, founded nine years ago in Astoria, Queens, has historically positioned itself — as a craft-forward, execution-driven retail bakery rather than a mass-market chain. The company now spans New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Texas, and Virginia.

Growth Context

Chip City is a portfolio company of Enlightened Hospitality Investments, the growth-equity fund founded by Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group. EHI backs consumer and hospitality brands at the growth stage, and the Chip City bet tracks a broader investor thesis around premium specialty bakery concepts as an enduring segment within the wider fast-casual and snacking category. Systemwide, the 39-unit count makes Chip City a mid-scale regional operator with clear runway for additional expansion, though the company has not publicly disclosed revenue targets or new-unit guidance tied to the leadership change.

In his own statement, Baizan de Aldecoa framed the mandate in operational terms: consistent delivery as a competitive moat. "People come back to Chip City for one reason: it delivers, every time. That's not an accident — it's the standard we hold ourselves to, and it's the standard I plan to keep raising," he said. For Food & Beverage Magazine readers tracking premium bakery retail, the appointment signals that EHI-backed brands are prioritizing internal talent pipelines and unit-level economics as the growth-equity playbook matures.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.