Camas couple opens franchise that specializes in edible fruit bouquets
Ouleya Batroukh is an artist. She sings, crafts silk paintings and is known for her intricately carved fruit and vegetable creations at dinner parties and holiday meals. She never expected the latter would lead her to becoming a business owner.
But in fact, that’s exactly what happened.
A little more than a year ago, Ouleya – the "hostess with the mostest," her husband and business partner Hussam calls her – was searching the Internet for new ideas for ways to carve fruit and stumbled across the Web site for Edible Arrangements. The Connecticut-based company, which specializes in eye-popping fruit bouquets of pineapple flowers, melon spears, orange rounds, strawberries and grape skewers, ranked 76th in Entrepreneur magazine’s 2006 fastest growing franchises list and 180th in its "Franchise 500."
When Hussam, a chief purser for United Airlines, attended a class on franchising at the company’s corporate headquarters last November, there were 120 Edible Arrangements stores across the nation. Now, there are 605 with dozens more slated to open soon, according to the Web site.
"I didn’t know there was such a thing," Ouleya said. "I was very surprised because this is what I do."
She and Hussam opened the store in July, the first in the area. Business has picked up tremendously in the last month, they said. They’ve advertised in a number of local publications and sent cards and brochures to local businesses – a market they’re hoping to tap.
They push the bouquets for office parties, gifts and corporate thank-yous. Earlier this month, the construction company that worked on the building in which the store is located called in an order of more than 140 arrangements to be sent as holiday gifts. Hussam said he knows of an orthodontist in Spokane who sends bouquets to area dentists as thank-you gifts for referrals.
Bouquets range in size from individual to banquet, which weighs a whopping 75 pounds. Customers have used them in occasions such as birthdays, weddings, funerals and anniversaries. Along with fruit bouquets, the business sells hand-dipped fruit slices and fruit salads. Products range from $25 to $200.
"There is an alternative to flowers," Hussam said. "Fruit bouquets are perfect for someone who has everything and they’re very unique and healthy."
In choosing a location, the Camas couple considered Portland, which they think may have been more profitable because of a larger population, but settled on Vancouver because it is growing and attracting big businesses, such as Best Buy and Cost Plus World Market, Hussam said.
"I figured they must know something I don’t know," he said. "Plus, we didn’t want to deal with the traffic and make it a stressful thing. We like Vancouver and have lived here a long time."
So far, the store’s revenues aren’t large, but it has the potential to produce an average revenue of $25,000 to $30,000 per month, he said.
But growing slowly isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the couple agreed. With four employees, the call for 140 bouquets in one order was, in a word, scary. And quality control on each order is of the highest importance, Ouleya said. In fact, the store has set a corporate record for it.
"Bouquets are expensive," she said. "I want to make really sure they are perfect. I look at it as if I’m a customer and whether I’d be happy with the product. We’d rather make less and make sure every arrangement is just right. We want repeat customers."
After the three-month mark, Ouleya received a call from the corporate headquarters that the business had not received one complaint, never issued a refund or a return – a company record.
The fruit comes from three Portland vendors, and all bouquets are carved and arranged on the day of delivery. They may be delivered anywhere in Clark County.
The couple’s goal is to open a second store on 164th or 192nd avenues next spring.
"I was really searching for something to do that fit my personality," Ouleya said. She had been a stay-at-home mom, but the couple’s children, now 11 and 12 years old, are old enough to stay on their own. Friends and neighbors had been suggesting career paths, but nothing was quite right.
"This is really me," Ouleya said. "It was an opportunity to do something new, and start something unique in my town."
Edible Arrangements
Hussam and Ouleya Batroukh, owners
6617 E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver
360-693-6370
wa416@ediblearrangements.com
