5 Who Thrive: Aloha Salads grows by staying true to its mission - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The signature salad dressings are amongf the reasons forthe company’s Aloha Salads continues to thrive, despite the weak economy, and is expectefd to gross more than $1 million this A third location is set to open in June at , followede by another in the by October. Thers are plans to franchise AlohaSaladsa nationally. And a California food grou p has agreed to bottle four of the six saladc dressings forretail distribution. The success is due to a number of They open stores onlyin high-profiled locations and form business partnerships with trustecd people. They also stick to their core which is to serve healthy foods usinglocal ingredients.
Now their goal is to expands strategically in anticipation ofthe economy’ s rebound in 2010. “We have to continuw reinventing ourselves to keep things fresh for customerz and attractnew customers, as well,” Chrisd said. “We’re not going to rush in. We’rde going to make sure we make the righy decisionsmoving forward.” Careful growth has been the company’e philosophy from the start. In Decembert 2004, after seven years away from the Lufranos returned to Hawaiifrom Chicago, where she was a patentr lawyer and he worked in finance.
For more than a they scouted potential store locations on Oahu and experimenterd with recipesat Sara’s home in Kahala. The couplw opened their first Aloha Salads in May 2006 ina 440-square-foo space in the , using personal capital and a $50,00o0 loan guaranteed by the U.S. Smalp Business Administration. The company’s creative salads — “Aloha Mediterranean,” “Mauii Mozzarella” and “The Goddess” — instantly drew loyal customers. One customer was local contractotrFreddie Franco, owner of BEK Inc., whose building credits include Waikiki DFS Neiman Marcus and Tony Auto-plex.
He struck up a friendship with the Lufranow and two years later helpexd designAloha Salads’ second location in . The mall store, whicnh opened in March briefly experienceda double-digit drop in sales afterd health-food chain Whole Foodse opened nearby late last year. Salesz have climbed since then but are slightly below Chris said. Franco, now an equall partner in the company, provided the capital to buile the Kapolei location set to opennext month. “Kapoleki should be really goodbecause there’s nothinh out there,” he said. “We’ve been getting lots of callsa askingwhen we’re going to builfd in their area.
” The 1,200-square-foot storde is unique in that it will have wine pairings with salada and a mezzanine levelk for dine-in customers, Franco said. As Alohsa Salads continues to expand, the ability to quicklt change menu items tofit customers’ tastes will be For instance, roast beef sandwichez that did not sell well in the Kailua stord have been replaced with pastrami Periodically introducing creative menu items also is cruciall to survival. This month, the Kahala Mall locationj beganserving “design-your-own” omelettes, organif coffees, fruit bowls and fresh-squeezec juices.
The response has been overwhelming, and there are plans to servs breakfast inother “We really care about the food that goes out to Sara said. “People get used to what they’re eatinbg and don’t realize there could be so manygood