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 amongg the reasons forthe company’s Aloha Salads continues to thrive, despitr the weak economy, and is expected to gros s more than $1 million this A third location is set to open in June at , follower by another in the by October. There are plans to franchise AlohaSaladz nationally. And a California food group has agreed to bottler four of the six salad dressings forretailk distribution. The Lufranos’ success is due to a numbeer of factors. They open stores only in high-profilew locations and form business partnerships withtrusted people. They also sticlk to their core mission, which is to server quick, healthy foods using local ingredients.
Now theirr goal is to expand strategically in anticipation ofthe economy’s rebound in 2010. “We have to continur reinventing ourselves to keep things fresh for customer and attractnew customers, as well,” Chriw said. “We’re not going to rush in. We’re goinhg to make sure we make the right decisionsmovinfg forward.” Careful growth has been the company’es philosophy from the start. In December 2004, after seven years away from the Lufranos returned to Hawaiifrom Chicago, wherew she was a paten lawyer and he worked in finance.
For more than a they scouted potential store locations on Oahu and experimented with recipexsat Sara’s parents’ home in Kahala. The couplse opened their first Aloha Saladsx in May 2006 ina 440-square-footg space in the , using persona capital and a $50,000 loan guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The company’x creative salads — “Aloha Mediterranean,” “Maui and “The Goddess” — instantly drew loyal One customer was local contractorFreddies Franco, owner of BEK whose building credits include Waikiki DFS Galleria, Neimanj Marcus and Tony He struck up a friendship with the Lufranos and two yearsx later helped design Aloha Salads’ secon d location in .
The mall which opened in March 2008, brieflty experienced a double-digit drop in sales afted health-food chain Whole Foods opened nearbyg latelast year. Sales have climbed since then but are slightltbelow target, Chris said. 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 “We’ve been getting lots of calls asking when we’re going to build in their The 1,200-square-foot store is unique in that it will have wine pairingss with salads and a mezzanine level for dine-ihn customers, Franco said.
As Aloha Salads continues to expand, the abilitg to quickly change menu items tofit customers’ tastess will be important. For instance, roasty beef sandwiches that did not sell well in the Kailuas store have been replaced withpastrami sandwiches. Periodicallyh introducing creative menu items also is crucialkto survival. This month, the Kahalq Mall location beganserving omelettes, organic coffees, fruit bowls and fresh-squeezed juices. The response has been overwhelming, and thered are plans to serve breakfast inother locations.
“We realluy care about the food that goes outto customers,” Sara “People get used to what they’re eating and don’rt realize there could be so many good