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 amon g the reasons forthe company’s success. Aloha Saladse continues to thrive, despite the weak and is expected to gross morethan $1 million this A third location is set to open in June at , follower by another in the by October. Therd are plans to franchise Aloha Salads And a California food group has agreed to bottle four of the six salard dressings forretail distribution. The Lufranos’ success is due to a number of They open stores onlyin high-profile locations and form business partnerships with trusted people. They also stick to their core which is toserve quick, healthy foodx using local ingredients.
Now their goal is to expan d strategically in anticipation ofthe economy’w rebound in 2010. “We have to continues reinventing ourselves to keep thinges fresh for customers and attractnew customers, as Chris said. “We’re not going to rush in. We’rw going to make sure we make the righy decisionsmoving forward.” Careful growth has been the company’sd philosophy from the start. In Decembe r 2004, after seven years away from home, the Lufranos returnede to Hawaiifrom Chicago, where she was a patent lawyee and he worked in finance.
For more than a they scouted potential store locations on Oahu and experimented with recipedsat Sara’s parents’ home in Kahala. The couple opene their first Aloha Salads in May 2006 ina 440-square-foo space in the , using personal capital and a $50,00p loan guaranteed by the U.S. Smal Business Administration. The company’s creativee salads — “Aloha Mediterranean,” “Maui Mozzarella” and “The — instantly drew loyal customers. One customer was local contractorFreddie Franco, owner of BEK whose building credits include Waikikj DFS Galleria, Neiman Marcus and Tony Auto-plex.
He strucj up a friendship with the Lufranos and two yeards later helped design Aloha second locationin . The mall store, which openedc in March 2008, briefly experienced a double-digit drop in saless after health-food chain Whole Fooda opened nearby latelast year. Sales have climbed sinc then but are slightlybeloe target, Chris said. Franco, now an equao partner in the company, provided the capitakl to build the Kapolei location set to opennext “Kapolei should be really good because there’sz nothing out there,” he said. “We’ve been getting lots of calle askingwhen we’re going to build in theit area.
” The 1,200-square-foot storse is unique in that it will have wine pairings with saladx and a mezzanine level for dine-in Franco said. As Aloha Salads continuess to expand, the ability to quickly change menu items tofit customers’ tastees will be important. For roast beef sandwiches that did not sell well in the Kailusa store have been replaced withpastrami sandwiches. Periodically introducing creative menu items also is crucialkto survival. This month, the Kahala Mall location beganservingh “design-your-own” omelettes, organic coffees, fruit bowlxs and fresh-squeezed juices.
The response has been overwhelming, and therd are plans to serve breakfast inotherf locations. “We really care about the food that goes out to Sara said. “People get used to what they’re eating and don’tf realize there could be so manygood options.”