Frank Meoni
Sunrise, FL (USA)
Role(s):
Founder/Owner/Principal
Growing Cooks
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Startup
Location:
Coral Springs
Industry:
Other
Year Founded:
2005
Number Employees:
1-10 people
Business Stage:
Growth (profitable)
Entity Type:
"S" Corporation
Description:
Growing Cooks is currently an online retailer specializing in cooking apparel, utensils, and cooking party supplies. We have several websites to sell to different types of customers. (URL removed) is our flagship website geared mostly toward children, this site specializes in child sized aprons, chef hats, coats, utensils and cooking party supplies. (URL removed) is our Business to business website for children's items, we sell mostly to embroiderers and businesses that host cooking parties for kids. (URL removed) is our website that serves the restaurant industry and institutional customers (churches, schools, etc).
In July 2011 we expanded to a brick and mortar retail store where we have cooking lessons and cooking parties for children and adults. We have been growing steadily and the new business unit (the cooking school portion of the business) is already profitable.
We are working toward having a franchisable model, but need additional capital for staffing and marketing. Once franchises begin to sell, this also increases our B2B sales of our website business because the stores will need to be filled with merchandise. Our textiles are private label with the Growing Cooks Brand. We will act as a distibutor using our bulk discounts to sell smaller quantities to our franchises.
We need capital to also open a second store to prove the concept is viable in a different geographic area. We are looking at an exit in approximately 5 years once we have sold a significant number of franchises.