Ones to Watch | By Sabrina Davis
Showcolate
Showcolate operates in high-traffic mall locations
from 9x7-foot kiosks that include a refrigerator,
freezer, plumbing system, chocolate machine, and
smoothie machine. “It’s all stainless
steel, so it’s easy to keep clean,” Marques
says. “Everything you need is contained within
the kiosk, it’s easy to set up and operate.
The beauty of it is that we’re not cooking.
We’re just melting chocolate and adding fruit
to it. Once health departments understand that,
it usually makes approval easier.”
Keeping the kiosks small increases profitability
in many countries, where space is charged per square
meter. In the U.S. most malls simply require that
kiosks be contained within a 10x10-foot space.
“We’re concentrating on the kiosks for
now to build our brand awareness,” Marques
says. “With the kiosk, I benefit from the
traffic; with a store, I have to be able to drive
traffic to it.”
Showcolate’s fast-growing brand awareness should
make driving traffic to a freestanding store easy
within a year or two, Marques says. So, the company
already is considering a complete line of chocolate
desserts to offer in a restaurant environment.
Showcolate
President Showcolate USA:
Ricardo Marques
Location: Waco, Texas
Annual sales: Not Disclosed
Locations: 108 (10 in U.S.)
Franchises: 105 (10 in U.S.)
Why
it bears watching: After
opening with one kiosk in a mall
in Brazil in 2003, Showcolate’s
owners expanded to three kiosks
in just a month and began franchising
soon after. There are now 90 kiosks
operating in Brazil and another
30 sold.
Marques approached Showcolate about opening
franchises in Panama. But Showcolate leadership
took note of his MBA and fluency in three
languages and instead brought Marques on board
to help with international expansion and lead
U.S. operations.
Moving into the U.S. wasn’t part of
Showcolate’s plan until Gary Findley,
founder and CEO of franchise consulting firm
The Findley Group, discovered Showcolate at
a franchise show. He bought the first three
U.S. kiosks, and his firm now manages franchise
sales in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Sales
in Mexico began early this year while expansion
into Canada is planned for early 2008.
The first U.S. franchise opened in 2005.
Now with 20 sold and 10 open, Showcolate projects
adding 130 U.S. franchises by the end of the
year. Master franchising is planned for Central
America, with immediate interest in Guatemala
and Costa Rica.
Fast growth may be attributed to the quick
and relatively affordable startup process.
Franchisees can expect to pay $27,500 as an
initial franchise fee and $99,000–$150,000
in start-up costs. A kiosk can be fully operational
within three months.
“It practically sells itself,”
Marques says of the fondue treats, but the
same might also be said about the franchise
package.
