A competitive -marketplace makes it no easy thing for any retail or restaurant company to find a niche. Alive Brands has managed to find two. In June the Los Angeles–based venture capital firm launched Compañía de Café, a coffee-and-pastry shop specializing in food and dessert items familiar to Mexican-Americans; and a year ago the firm also acquired a controlling stake in the Earthbar smoothies, juices and nutritional-supplements chain.
“We are -focused on growing these two concepts,” said CEO Robert Lustig. “The genesis of both is based on celebrating and elevating the human spirit.” That is high-soaring language, surely, but in more-prosaic terms, Alive Brands seeks spaces measuring roughly 2,000 square feet for each concept and is open to buying stakes in other businesses that fulfill its mission statement.
The first Compañía de Café shop opened in San Fernando, Calif. — a 5,000-square-foot flagship that includes a bakery as well as company offices; the 2,500-square-foot serving area seats about 80. “We are talking to developers about future locations,” Lustig said. At press time the second Compañía de Café shop was on track for its mid-September opening at Primestor Development’s Azalea lifestyle center, in the heavily Hispanic-populated city of South Gate, Calif. “This concept provides a different experience for the Mexican/Latino/Chicano community in a way that conveys authenticity to the customers,” said Arturo Sneider, CEO and co-founder of Los Angeles–based Primestor. The food offerings, made fresh in the store daily, include chipotle-chili-infused ganache, chicken mole empanadas, plantain pound cake and abuelita chocolate tamales. (The word abuelita means “grandma” in Spanish.) The drinks include cajeta latte and abuelita mochas, hot and cold.
The latest Earthbar shop opened this spring in a 1,200-square-foot space at Glendale (Calif.) Galleria. “This will excite healthy-minded shoppers who are familiar with the health bar, as well as introduce a new, healthy and delicious alternative to others,” said Christina Riojas, Glendale Galleria’s marketing manager.
“The strength of the Earthbar brand has attracted serious interest from around the country, as well as internationally,” said Lustig. “We’re actively looking at several different locations as follow-ons.” This year an Earthbar unit opened in San Francisco, at General Growth’s Stonestown Galleria, and at present the chain operates nearly 20. “We are being very selective about where we develop Earthbars,” he said. Alive Brands has been talking with General Growth Properties, fitness club chain Equinox and others about sites in California and elsewhere. “We have a longstanding relationship with Equinox,” said Lustig. “We recently opened [an Earthbar] in a new Equinox on Union Street in San Francisco.” In fact, the very first Earthbar opened inside an Equinox, in Glendale, in 2007.
Earthbar’s genesis goes back to 1971, when pharmacists Bernie Bubman and Earl Mindell started Great Earth Vitamins, which they later sold, though Bubman still holds a stake. Bubman says he foresaw the “nutriceuticals” business — a combination of nutrition and pharmaceuticals — as early as then. The wellness category is growing as the popularity of homeopathic cures increases, says Bubman, who considers Earthbar shops to be “wellness centers” rather than traditional smoothie and juice bars.
“We customize everything for the individual customer,” Bubman said. If a customer suffers from, say, hay fever, a smoothie or juice can be developed with nutrients intended to ease those symptoms. “We have highly knowledgeable service providers where we can provide guidance and feedback on what are the best items for a customer’s particular needs,” said Lustig. “Or if you are a weight lifter, you are looking for different solutions than someone with migraines.”
Just now the Earthbar management is in the process of creating “wellology platforms” for information about healthy solutions to various maladies. “Our employees will be well informed, and we will provide computers for customers to go on their own voyages of self-discovery,” said Lustig. “This is the direction we are headed.”
