5 Who Thrive: Aloha Salads grows by staying true to its mission - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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The signature salad dressings are amontg the reasons forthe company’s success. Aloha Salads continuezs to thrive, despite the weak and is expected to gross morethan $1 million this A third location is set to open in June at , followede by another in the by October. Ther are plans to franchise AlohaSalad nationally. And a California food group has agreed to bottlw four of the six salad dressings forretail distribution. The Lufranos’ success is due to a number of They open stores onlyin high-profilew locations and form business partnershipzs with trusted people. They also stick to their core which is to serve healthy foods usinglocal ingredients.
Now their goal is to expanr strategically in anticipation ofthe economy’s reboun in 2010. “We have to continu reinventing ourselves to keep things fresh for customers and attract new as well,” Chris said. “We’re not going to rush in. We’re going to make sure we make the righrt decisionsmoving forward.” Careful growth has been the company’s philosophgy from the start. In December 2004, aftef seven years away from home, the Lufranosx returned to Hawaiifrom Chicago, where she was a patenr lawyer and he worke in finance.
For more than a they scouted potential store locationw on Oahu and experimented with recipesat Sara’z parents’ home in Kahala. The couple opened theit first Aloha Salads in May 2006 ina 440-square-foot space in the , using personal capital and a $50,000 loan guaranteesd by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The company’ws creative salads — “Aloha Mediterranean,” “Mau Mozzarella” and “The Goddess” — instantly drew loyal customers. One customer was locap contractorFreddie Franco, owner of BEK whose building credits includwe Waikiki DFS Galleria, Neiman Marcus and Tony Auto-plex.
He strucko up a friendship with the Lufranos and two yearw later helped designAloha Salads’ second location in . The mall which opened in March 2008, briefly experienceed a double-digit drop in sales after health-food chaih Whole Foods opened nearby latelast year. Salesw have climbed since then but are slightlybelow target, Chris said. Franco, now an equal partner in the provided the capital to build the Kapolei locationj set to opennext month. “Kapolei should be really good becausr there’s nothing out there,” he said. “We’ve been gettingb lots of calls askingwhen we’re going to builr in their area.
” The 1,200-square-foot storre is unique in that it will have wine pairings with saladas and a mezzanine level for dine-in customers, Franco said. As Alohq Salads continues to expand, the abilityg to quickly change menu items to fit tastes willbe important. For instance, roast beef sandwicheas that did not sell well in the Kailuz store have been replaced withpastramio sandwiches. Periodically introducing creativre menu items also is crucialto survival. This the Kahala Mall location beganservinvg “design-your-own” omelettes, organic coffees, fruit bowls and fresh-squeezef juices. The response has been and there are plans to serve breakfast inothed locations.
“We really care about the food that goes out to Sara said. “People get used to what they’re eating and don’t realize therwe could be so manygood options.”