John Pisaturo and Aileen Soriano-Pisaturo
Saladworks | 75 Fountain St., Providence
The pitch: Delivery of a custom-built salad in minutes after walking through the door and placing your order. It is the first Saladworks located in Rhode Island, as well as all of New England. The restaurant offers a healthy alternative for today’s consumer, set apart by the freshness of its food. The menu features an assortment of signature salad recipes, along with a create-your-own-salad option, soups and sandwiches. It’s a health-based restaurant, founded in Cherry Hill, N.J., in 1986, which began franchising in 1992.
Years in business: Scheduled to open on March 25 but due to a restaurant closure mandate to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the owners hope to open sometime this spring, pending the governor’s order.
Employees: 15-20, mostly part-time employees
Cost to obtain franchise: $30,000-$35,000 initial fee; $163,724-$452,292 initial investment; net worth requirement: $350,000; liquid cash requirement: $100,000
Before opening franchise: John Pisaturo has worked in the hospitality business for about 30 years. Prior to opening Saladworks, he worked as a manager at Brewed Awakenings in Cranston for 10 years after spending two years as regional manager for World Dining LLC. His wife, Aileen, who always wanted to own a restaurant, is a physician at Kent County Memorial Hospital. John Pisaturo will oversee the daily operation of the business.
Reason for opening: Pisaturo and his wife were looking for a food-based franchise to purchase and considered opening a non-franchised restaurant. After researching the industry, they decided that a franchise operation was less risky. Pisaturo did research on pedestrian traffic for the restaurant’s location on Fountain Street in the heart of the business district, leading him to lease the space. The Pisaturos wanted to own the first Saladworks in Rhode Island.
“Saladworks is a healthy alternative for lunch or dinner. Predominantly, 65 to 70% of my revenue will be lunchtime business. The other 35% or so will be dinnertime. So, it’s mostly a lunchtime business. We’re in a perfect location for that. We are right in the heart of the business district. We were very lucky. It’s very exciting.”
-John Pisaturo
“When my wife and I thought about acquiring a franchise in Rhode Island, we wanted something a little different. We wanted something a little more health conscious. We wanted a healthy alternative for today’s consumer. We didn’t want the normal burger place, pizza place, sandwich place, that kind of thing. We came across this franchise, Saladworks; they’re based out of Philadelphia. They caught our attention. That’s why we opened this restaurant.”
-John Pisaturo
“It’s been challenging. It’s very time-consuming being a franchise owner. It took a while after signing the franchise agreement in late August of 2018. But Saladworks has a phenomenal support team. They take you through the week-by-week process when you start.”
-John Pisaturo
Franchise owners interested in being included in an upcoming Franchisee feature can contact Cassius Shuman at (401) 680-4884 or Shuman@PBN.com.
