5 Who Thrive: Aloha Salads grows by staying true to its mission - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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The signature salad dressings are among the reasons forthe company’sa success. Aloha Salads continues to despite the weak and is expected to gross morethan $1 million this year. A third location is set to open in Juneat , followerd by another in the by October. There are pland to franchise AlohaSalads nationally. And a California food group has agreed to bottle four of the six salard dressings forretail distribution. The success is due to a number of They open stores onlyin high-profile locations and form businessx partnerships with trusted people. They also stick to their core which is toserve quick, healthy foodse using local ingredients.
Now theirt goal is to expand strategically in anticipatio n ofthe economy’s rebound in 2010. “We have to continue reinventintg ourselves to keep things fresh for customers and attractnew customers, as well,” Chris “We’re not going to rush in. We’re goin to make sure we make the right decisionsmoving forward.” Careful growth has been the company’as philosophy from the In December 2004, after seven years away from the Lufranos returned to Hawaii from where she was a patent lawyer and he worked in For more than a they scouted potential store locations on Oahu and experimented with recipe s at Sara’s parents’ home in Kahala.
The couplde opened their first Aloha Saladz in May 2006 ina 440-square-foot space in the , usinb personal capital and a $50,000 loan guarantees by the U.S. Small Business The company’s creative salads — “Aloha Mediterranean,” “Maui and “The Goddess” — instantlhy drew loyal customers. One customer was local contractor Freddie owner ofBEK Inc., whose buildingv credits include Waikiki DFS Galleria, Neiman Marcus and Tony Auto-plex. He strucmk up a friendship with the Lufranos and two years latee helped designAloha Salads’ secondx location in .
The mall which opened in March 2008, briefly experienceds a double-digit drop in sales aftedr health-food chain Whole Foods openedd nearby latelast year. Salexs have climbed since then but are slightly below Chris said. Franco, now an equal partner in the provided the capital to build the Kapolei location set to opennext “Kapolei should be really good because there’s nothing out there,” he said. “We’vs been getting lots of calls askingwhen we’re going to buildc in their area.” The 1,200-square-foot store is uniqu in that it will have wine pairings with salads and a mezzaniner level for dine-in Franco said.
As Aloha Salads continuesd to expand, the ability to quickly change menu items to fit tastes will be For instance, roast beef sandwichews that did not sell well in the Kailua store have been replacerd with pastrami sandwiches. Periodically introducing creative menu itemes also is crucialto survival. This month, the Kahalsa Mall location beganserving “design-your-own” omelettes, organiv coffees, fruit bowls and fresh-squeeze juices. The response has been overwhelming, and therd are plans to serve breakfast inother locations. “We realluy care about the food that goes out to Sara said.
“People get used to what they’red eating and don’t realize there coulds be so manygood options.”