Store in a Box featured in QSRweb

Recently, Store in a Box was featured in an article on QSRweb, entitled, “New Pasta QSR has Long Heritage Behind It.” The article was built from an in-depth interview with Bruce Olans and Antonio D’Alelio with Lilly’s Gourmet Pasta Express. The article discusses Lilly’s history, their new partnership with Store in a Box, Inc. and how Store in a Box created the new prototype for Lilly’s and will act as the exclusive builder for the brand. The article even explains the types of clients that Store in a Box typically partners with. Below is a sample of the article with a link to the article in its entirety.

New pasta QSR has long heritage behind it
by Christa Hoyland

Partnering with Store in a Box Inc., which specializes in store buildouts, Lilly's Gourmet Pasta is aiming at the quick-service segment in order to keep start up and operating costs down. Stores are under 1,000 square feet and have only a couple of tables. In the two company-owned stores, about 75 percent of sales are delivery meals.

A pasta boutique merchandiser provides a 20 percent mix. The case features pasta and meals that customers can cook for themselves at home.

Store in a Box is the approved vendor for the build out, providing services including the approved store design, construction management, mill work and graphics. Each store will feature the same approved design and graphics.

Store in a Box CEO Bruce said his company's partnership with Lilly's Gourmet Pasta Express is unusual because the restaurant concept is so new. Typically, the company works only with more proven brands, those with three to five years of experience and 10 to 25 locations open.

Olans said he was intrigued first because D'Alelio is a fellow native Bostonian, but that only started the conversation. It was the product itself that sold him — "and I've been to too many restaurants that did not."

"I told Antonio, 'After tasting this product, you have a Rolls Royce product in a Chevrolet store,'" Olans said.

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BrandPartners and Store in a Box Just Featured in The Wall Street Journal

Today, Store in a Box was featured in The Wall Street Journal, in an article discussing small business expansion in the shaky economy. Despite the economic climate where many small businesses are experiencing slowed development and a decline in customers, many other businesses have continued to grow and have found an upside; cheaper rent. Store in a Box works with franchise concepts and small businesses around the country. A portion of the article can be read below and you can find a link to the entire story below as well.

Location, Location and More Location
With vacancy rates up and rents down, it's a great time to grab extra space if you need it
By Raymund Flandez

For some small-business owners, the terrible economy holds an unexpected silver lining: It's a lot easier to get more space.

As hosts of businesses close their doors, vacancy rates are soaring and rents are plummeting. So, small companies that are still on their feet—and looking to expand—suddenly have lots of leverage with landlords. And they're making the most of the chance, snaring prime locations and larger spaces, often at a fraction of the regular asking price.

Crisis and Opportunity

In early December, for instance, Sindi Major-Martinez, president and chief executive of Sindel Technologies LLC, moved her IT-services firm to a new location in Phoenix. At the new building, she's paying $21 a square foot for 4,400 square feet—versus $23 per square foot for 3,000 square feet in her previous lease. It's an even better deal considering that the new location was valued at $29.50 a square foot recently, and the current rent also covers utilities and cleaners.

"It really emphasizes that there are good things out there, even though things are really bad," says Ms. Major-Martinez, who estimates she'll save about $60,000 in the first year.

For an idea of the kinds of potential deals out there, consider this: Commercial rents were down 36% in October from a year earlier and were 44% below the peak in October 2007, according to Moody's Investors Service Inc. In addition, the national office market's vacancy rate is expected to rise as high as 19% by the end of 2010, the highest on record since Grubb & Ellis Co. began tracking the national market in 1986.

"The one thing that happens in this economy is that the weak players get pushed out," says Bruce Olans, chief executive of Store in a Box Inc., a Rochester, N.H., company owned by BrandPartners Group Inc. that assists small businesses and franchisees with the build-out process, including lease negotiation. "It's kind of survival of the fittest. A lot of the ones that were hanging on for years are basically going out of business. It's opening up new opportunities."

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Store in a Box Recently Featured in The Wall Street Journal

With the new economic climate, companies need to be creative in order to grow their business and attract new customers and clients. Recently, Store in a Box was featured in The Wall Street Journal in an article entitled, “Three Best Ways to Win a Corporate Client”. Below you will find a portion of the article and a link to read the entire article:

Three Best Ways to Win a Corporate Client

By Raymund Flandez

In this challenging economy, Corporate America is hunkering down and limiting spending on products or services that don't address critical needs. That's made it more difficult than ever for small businesses to attract and land corporate accounts. They've had to do even more prospecting – more calls, more networking, and more seeking of referrals, says Rich Isaac, president of a Sandler Training franchise in Hauppauge, N.Y., a business-development training firm for small- to medium-size businesses.

Women- and minority-owned businesses can increase their odds of winning a contract by becoming certified through the National Minority Supplier Development Council or the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. Many big businesses have so-called supplier diversity programs that specifically look for such a distinction.

But any business can get a leg up on the competition – with a little effort. Here are three best ways to land a corporate client.

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