Perenn Expands in Nashville with European-style Pastries
European-style bakery and restaurant Perenn, known for its artisanal pastries and high-quality ingredients, recently expanded with two new Nashville-area storefronts, and an upscale grocery store is now in the works. Aubrey and Tyler O'Laskey own Perenn. Alongside their Berry Hill location, the couple also runs a sister bakery and a full-service Franklin restaurant, with a growing team of employees.
They started Perenn in Reno, Nevada, in 2018, naming it after the perennial plants they tend to in their gardens. Six years later, their move to Tennessee made a splash, with two locations debuting within months and an upscale Wedgewood Houston grocery set to arrive in 2026. At the heart of all the growth is the couple's pursuit of fresh ingredients, innovative partnerships with local farmers and nourishing, comforting, delicious food.
The growth of Perenn has been a long time in the making. The journey of opening two Tennessee locations and a soon-to-come gourmet grocery starteda decade ago in Nevada, by way of New York. After relocating, the O'Laskeys began scouting markets, visiting with Tennessee-based suppliers and building relationships with local farmers.
That was a necessary first step to building a robust local food supply chain for their bakery and restaurant, but it also lent itself to the next stage of the business' Tennessee expansion: Perenn Grocery, the market/corner store concept coming to the "Wedgewood Village" development owned by AJ Capital Partners.
"Inspired by small European markets and the producers we've met along the way, this next chapter is about carefully grown and raised goods, curated design and bringing hospitality back into the everyday chore," the couple wrote in a November Instagram post announcing the Nashville grocery store. The business is set to offer produce, meats, pantry staples, fresh-baked goods, and prepared food, like Perenn's chicken salad, salsa, dressings, granola, and snacks. The aesthetically pleasing packaging, locally sourced floral arrangements, and beverage coolers filled with green juices and kombucha prompt comparison to other luxe gourmet grocery stores that have made headlines this year.
AJ Capital Senior Vice President of Retail Kyle Allen, who directs leasing for the company's Wedgewood Houston developments, said it's the perfect fit for the neighborhood. "Perenn isn't just a bakery, I think it's more of a lifestyle," he said. "It's this obsession with quality and getting the best ingredients. And it's in their DNA." In that sense, Allen said, Perenn will fit into the fabric of the growing area, also home to Pastis, Hermès, art galleries, office buildings and apartments.