Ones to Watch | By Sabrina Davis
Marvelous Market
Every dish is prepackaged to grab and go
and made fresh around 4:30 a.m. for delivery to stores by 6:30
a.m., Meyer says. “We have multiple vendors who use our
recipes and brand everything with our name.”
Creating a strong vendor network is part
of Meyer’s recipe for a large, franchised national brand.
“We made everything ourselves in the past, but that was
too complicated,” he says. Now instead of worrying about
kitchen operation, Meyer says he can focus on making
franchisees as profitable as possible.
The first Marvelous Market franchise
opened in November 2006 to great success in D.C.’s
Capitol Hill area. The company now has two area developers in
the greater D.C. area and one working to develop stores in the
greater Baltimore area.
Marvelous Market
CEO: Michael
Meyer
HQ: Washington,
D.C.
Year Started: 1991
Annual Sales: $1.1 million
Total Units: 10
Franchise Units: 2
Why
it bears watching: Marvelous Market appears to be appropriately
named, not just for what’s inside, but also for the
opportunities ahead. With the help of franchise developer Fransmart,
the company plans to open its second and third territories in
the next six months, most likely in Massachusetts and Florida.
“I really don’t talk about
specific goals for the company,” Meyer says, “but I
know the market size is huge. I think it could easily handle
1,000 to 2,000 stores. We’re trying to capitalize on
trends in the marketplace: rising incomes, better tastes, and
less time. We are what customers want right now, and we seem to
have no direct competitor.
“There are two great benefits to our
operation,” Meyer says. “There’s no expensive
equipment in the stores, and there are no tough operational
issues.”
Another benefit is the steady business.
Meyer says his stores serve five dayparts (breakfast, lunch,
snack time, dinner, and catering), while most concepts rely
heavily on one or two. Meyer believes the catering business
will take off with franchising.
