Marvelous Market Sells First Franchise To Exec

Seth Shapiro quit his job as head of retail operations at Marvelous Market to lead his own Marvelous Market retail operation.

In his corporate position, he was responsible for eight established Marvelous Markets, a combination bakery and restaurant. Now he'll open the company's first franchise store, which will be on Capitol Hill.

Shapiro plans to open the 2,600-square foot store at the corner of Seventh and C streets SE by Halloween.

His five years with D.C.-based marvelous Market and relationship with CEO Michael Meyer and CFO Pascal Bouvier did afford him a deal, but he won't say for how much.

MARKET READY: When Seth Shapiro opens his Capitol Hill Marvelous Market, it will be the D.C.-based compnay's first franchise operation. "I have the knowledge base," Shapiro says. "They wouldn't be doing the same thing for everyone else." That knowledge base means Shapiro knew that Marvelous Market had franchise plans in the works. The company had announced similar plans in April 2004, but they never gained traction. The new plans were announced Oct. 12.

Marvelous Market plans to add 50 stores to its eight in Greater Washington over the next two years and do it entirely with franchises.

"It's a faster avenue for growth," Bouvier says. And it may be a less risky one. Marvelous Market filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1994, and founder Mark Furstenberg said then that he'd tried to expand too quickly. Furstenberg would not comment for this story.

So this time around, Marvelous Market's new owners called in the super-sizing experts. Alexandria-based Fransmart, to make sure their fast growth plans were put on the right track. Franchisees will buy into a 16-year-old brand that's had its share of drama outside the kitchen.

After the Chapter 11 filing, Furstenberg sold the operation to University of Virginia business grads Meyer and Chris Brookfield in 1996. A year later, Furstenberg, a bread man at heart, opened Breadline on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Marvelous Market had been buying bread from Breadline until earlier this year when Furstenburg sued Marvelous Market, claiming unpaid bills from July 1, 2005 to Dec. 31.

At the end of last year, Furstenberg sold Breadline to B.D. Washington II, the company also owns the la Madeleine chain. Washington II also filed suit for unpaid bills through March. The cases were consolidated, and the two operations are now embroiled in an ongoing dispute over more than $40,000.

Marvelous Market is pushing forward with its franchise plans and deciding what to do with the eight corporate stores that it doesn't "intend to keep on running," according to Bouvier. "We would try to find a potential franchisee that wants to open three to 10 stores, and as a sweetener, we'd say 'How about you take one of the stores that's already established?'" The Dupont Circle store, next to Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe, has the highest volume and counts the highest profits. Bouvier says about 60 to 70 percent of the chain's customers are women.

Shapiro, who ran a restaurant called Just Around the Corner in Atlanta with his wife before joining Marvelous Market, says he decided to own when he saw the for lease sign in the storefront across from Eastern Market.

He has spent about $300,000 on the buildout and says he still needs to paint, put in the counters and cappuccino bar, lay the floors and go through final inspections. Shapiro also has to hire five to 10 salespeople.

"I saw it work," says Shapiro. "And I know it can work in this community, and I know it can work for my family."

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