At the heart of Edible® is the simple mission to help people celebrate life’s special moments. From annual family events like birthdays and anniversaries to life’s unique milestones like retirement or holiday get-togethers, our primary objective remains straightforward. We help people cheer these special moments with extra sweet memories and smiles! While we love helping our customers celebrate, we also love acknowledging the stores and employees that work diligently to deliver our gifts for these special events. We also take a lot of pride in our entrepreneurial spirit that resides with the franchise owners that work directly with customers in the local community to provide those sweet treats. As you celebrate life’s special moments, we want to acknowledge the special franchise owners and teams that deliver the delicious fruits and sweets that you expect. Today, we celebrate the Berkeley, CA team!
Initially opened in November 2010, the Berkeley, CA franchise has been celebrating special moments in the community for over 11 years! The leadership team prides themselves on preparing and delivering fruit arrangements that are always freshly crafted from fruit that’s grown and picked to our Fruit Expert® standards. Additionally, they have the best variety of gourmet chocolate Dipped Fruit™, too! They were able to navigate the last year with remarkable skill and achieved a lot of success. Recently, the leadership team discussed how their experience and skills were used to build a $1 million store. Congrats!
What have you done differently this year versus last year to become a million-dollar store?
We really focused on finding and keeping the best staff we could. And then making sure each and everyone is undergoing continuous training on our products and, most importantly, customer service.
What have you done differently to engage with the community during the pandemic?
We have maintained all health and safety protocols provided by the CDC, our state, and our city. Some of them have been more stringent than in other areas, but we know our customers really appreciate our extra efforts.
How did you build your customer base?
Relationship building and consistency and quality of the products we serve. We always check to see if a customer ordered before so we can help guide them on what they loved and may want to try again. Or, we can suggest something new that we are sure they would love at least as much. And once an order is placed, we make sure we only use the highest quality ingredients and our designs match specifications as precisely as humanly possible.
What have been your most successful marketing tactics for Edible®?
We have used the smoothies and tastings in front of our store to meet our nearest neighbors and community members. From there, we can either expand their experience with our Brand or introduce them to it. Many of them come back for at least another sample or two before placing an order.
What kind of culture exists in how you run your store, and how did you establish it?
We endeavor to ensure our staff understands our Brand and how we can best serve our community. We want them to feel personally responsible for making the most beautifully dipped fruit and arrangements. Almost to the extent they are works of art that they can be proud to create. They have taken so much pride in their work, such that none of them would allow any item to leave the store that is subpar. Our Edible products have to be top quality and every member does their part in quality control.
What has been your most satisfying moment as an Edible® store owner?
Staff growth with a doubt! We are fortunate to have several employees that have been with us for many years. Our longest tenured employee right now is 9 years. We’ve seen people come in as temps on a holiday and progress over time to leadership positions where they are the ones organizing, training, and placing people in positions where they are surest to succeed. To see their pride at what they do and what they’ve accomplished is more than we could have hoped for when we first started out.
How do you define success in this industry (outside of financial)?
Happiness. Positive, high functioning work environment makes happy employees that want to come to work. And that comfort and happiness can’t help but be seen by our customers that either come in, call us, or simply receive what has been sent to them. And happiness is contagious in the good way.
What advice would you give to your fellow franchisee?
Believe in yourself and your ability to create a positive work environment. Always seek out information and support from your brother and sister stores, both in your general area, as well as across the country. Being a franchisee is among the best ways to operate a business since you are never actually alone. Between neighbors, fellow franchisees, and corporate support, we have all the tools available to us to become successful.
Who, and what, has been your greatest inspiration?
Too many to name. From neighboring franchisees who took us under their wing when we first started, to conventions where most franchisees and corporate staff can all be in the same room at the same time. It has been a blessing to be part of brand that is growing and evolving with the help of the franchisees.
From all of us at Edible®, thank you for your dedication to executing our mission and taking pride in delivering WOW-worthy gifts to the people in your community!
