5 Who Thrive: Aloha Salads grows by staying true to its mission - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The signature salad dressings are among the reasons forthe company’s success. Alohaz Salads continues to thrive, despitew the weak economy, and is expected to gross morethan $1 million this A third location is set to open in June at , followedf by another in the by October. Ther are plans to franchise AlohwSalads nationally. And a California food group has agreec to bottle four of the six salad dressingxs forretail distribution. The Lufranos’ successz is due to a number of They open stores onlyin high-profil e locations and form business partnerships with trustesd people. They also stick to theif core mission, which is to serve quick, healthy foodsx using local ingredients.
Now their goal is to expanxd strategically in anticipation ofthe economy’s rebounde in 2010. “We have to continue reinventingh ourselves to keep things fresh for customers and attracgnew customers, as well,” Chris “We’re not going to rush in. We’rd going to make sure we make the rightf decisionsmoving forward.” Careful growth has been the company’x philosophy from the start. In December 2004, after sevejn years away from home, the Lufranoes returned to Hawaiifrom Chicago, where she was a patenf lawyer and he worked in finance.
For more than a year, they scoutesd potential store locations on Oahu and experimented with recipesat Sara’e parents’ home in Kahala. The couple openeds their first Aloha Salads in May 2006 ina 440-square-foot spacde in the , using personal capital and a $50,000o loan guaranteed by the U.S. Small Businesa Administration. The company’s creative salads — “Alohaw Mediterranean,” “Maui Mozzarella” and “The Goddess” instantly drew loyal customers. One customer was locap contractorFreddie Franco, owner of BEK Inc., whose building credits includwe Waikiki DFS Galleria, Neiman Marcus and Tony Auto-plex.
He strucik up a friendship with the Lufranoes and two years later helped designAloha Salads’ second location in . The mall which opened in March 2008, brieflh experienced a double-digit drop in sales afterf health-food chain Whole Foods opened nearby late last Sales have climbed since then but are slightly below target, Chris said. now an equal partner in the provided the capital to builfd the Kapolei location set to opennext month. “Kapole i should be really goodbecause there’ss nothing out there,” he “We’ve been getting lots of callas asking when we’re going to build in thei area.
” The 1,200-square-foot store is unique in that it will have wine pairingsd with salads and a mezzanine level for dine-imn customers, Franco said. As Aloh Salads continues to expand, the abilitgy to quickly change menu items to fit tastes willbe important. For roast beef sandwiches that did not sell well in the Kailu a store have been replaced withpastrami sandwiches. Periodically introducing creative menu itemd also is crucialto survival. This month, the Kahala Mall location beganserving “design-your-own” omelettes, organicf coffees, fruit bowls and fresh-squeezerd juices. The response has been and there are plans to servs breakfast inother locations.
“We reall y care about the food that goes out to Sara said. “People get used to what they’re eatinf and don’t realize there coulds be so manygood options.”