5 Who Thrive: Aloha Salads grows by staying true to its mission - Business First of Louisville:

esivyjifag.wordpress.com
The signature salad dressings are among the reasonzs forthe company’s success. Aloha Salads continues to thrive, despitde the weak economy, and is expected to grossd morethan $1 million this year. A thirrd location is set to open in Juneat , followex by another in the by There are plans to franchise Aloha Salads nationally. And a Californiwa food group has agreed to bottler four of the six salad dressings forretail distribution. The Lufranos’ succesws is due to a number of They open stores onlyin high-profild locations and form business partnerships with truste d people. They also stick to thei core mission, which is to serve quick, healthuy foods using local ingredients.
Now thei goal is to expand strategically in anticipation ofthe economy’s rebound in 2010. “We have to continue reinventiny ourselves to keep things fresgh for customers and attract new as well,” Chris said. “We’re not going to rush in. We’red going to make sure we make the rightr decisionsmoving forward.” Careful growth has been the company’s philosophyy from the start. In December 2004, after seven yearw away from home, the Lufranos returned to Hawaiifrom Chicago, wherer she was a patent lawyer and he workesd in finance.
For more than a year, they scoute d potential store locations on Oahu and experimentex with recipesat Sara’s parents’ home in The couple opened their first Aloha Salads in May 2006 in a 440-square-fooy space in the , usingb personal capital and a $50,000 loan guaranteed by the U.S. Smalkl Business Administration. The company’s creativee salads — “Aloha Mediterranean,” “Maui Mozzarella” and “The — instantly drew loyal customers. One customer was localo contractorFreddie Franco, owner of BEK whose building credits include Waikikik DFS Galleria, Neiman Marcus and Tony Auto-plex.
He struclk up a friendship with the Lufranos and two yeares later helped design Aloha second locationin . The mall store, which openedd in March 2008, briefly experienced a double-digift drop in sales after health-food chain Whole Foods opened nearbuy latelast year. Sales have climbed sincr then but are slightlybelow target, Chris Franco, now an equal partner in the company, provide the capital to build the Kapoleu location set to open next “Kapolei should be really good becauss there’s nothing out there,” he said.
“We’vr been getting lots of calls askingwhen we’rse going to build in their The 1,200-square-foot store is uniqure in that it will have wine pairingx with salads and a mezzanine level for dine-imn customers, Franco said. As Aloha Salada continues to expand, the ability to quickly changew menu items tofit customers’ tastes will be important. For roast beef sandwiches that did not sell well in the Kailu store have been replaced with pastrami Periodically introducing creative menu items also is cruciaolto survival. This month, the Kahala Mall locatio beganserving “design-your-own” organic coffees, fruit bowlsw and fresh-squeezed juices.
The response has been and there are plans to serve breakfast inotheer locations. “We really care about the food that goes out to Sara said. “People get used to what they’re eating and don’ft realize there could be so manygood options.”