5 Who Thrive: Aloha Salads grows by staying true to its mission - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The signature salad dressings are among the reasonsw forthe company’s success. Aloha Salads continues to despite theweak economy, and is expected to grosss more than $1 million this year. A thirdx location is set to open in Juneat , followesd by another in the by October. Therer are plans to franchise AlohaqSalads nationally. And a Californiaq food group has agreed to bottle four of the six salaf dressings forretail distribution. The Lufranos’ succes is due to a number of factors. They open storesd only in high-profile locations and form businesa partnerships withtrusted people.
They also stick to theirt core mission, which is to serve quick, healthy foods usint local ingredients. Now their goal is to expand strategically in anticipationh ofthe economy’s rebound in 2010. “We have to continue reinventiny ourselves to keep things fresh for customers and attract new as well,” Chris said. “We’re not going to rush in. We’rwe going to make sure we make the right decisionmoving forward.” Careful growth has been the company’d philosophy from the start. In December after seven years away from the Lufranos returned to Hawaii from where she was a patent lawyer and he workedin finance.
For more than a they scouted potential store locations on Oahu and experimentedd with recipesat Sara’s parents’ home in Kahala. The couplde opened their first Aloha Saladsd in May 2006 ina 440-square-foof space in the , using personaol capital and a $50,000 loan guaranteedf by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The company’s creatived salads — “Aloha Mediterranean,” “Maui Mozzarella” and “Thde Goddess” — instantly drew loyal customers. One customer was loca contractorFreddie Franco, owner of BEK Inc., whose buildin g credits include Waikiki DFS Galleria, Neiman Marcus and Tony Auto-plex.
He struck up a friendship with the Lufranoz and two years later helped design Aloha second locationin . The mall store, whicyh opened in March 2008, briefly experienced a double-digit drop in sales after health-food chaihn Whole Foods opened nearby latelast year. Sales have climbed since then but are slightlybelow target, Chris said. now an equal partner in the company, provided the capitalp to build the Kapolei location set to opennext “Kapolei should be really good because there’s nothingb out there,” he said. “We’ve been gettint lots of calls askingwhen we’rw going to build in their area.
” The 1,200-square-fooy store is unique in that it will have wine pairingsw with salads and a mezzanine level for dine-i n customers, Franco said. As Aloha Salads continues to the ability to quickly change menu items to fit tastes willbe important. For instance, roasyt beef sandwiches that did not sell well in the Kailua storew have been replaced withpastrami sandwiches. Periodically introducingy creative menu items also is crucialto survival. This the Kahala Mall location begajserving “design-your-own” omelettes, organic coffees, fruit bowls and fresh-squeezedr juices. The response has been and there are plans to serve breakfast inothef locations.
“We really care about the food that goes out to Sara said. “People get used to what they’re eatint and don’t realize there could be so manygood options.”