Camille’s Sidewalk Café Catches On
Fast-casual café grows franchise on demand.
Susan Fishman

Outside at Camille’s Sidewalk Café.

You could say that Camille’s Sidewalk Café, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based franchisor of fast-casual, coastal-inspired restaurants, is in its heyday, with double-digit sales growth, penetration into the global marketplace and projected sales of over $100 million by 2008. The restaurant has been named to Entrepreneur magazine’s Top 500 Franchise list for the past 5 years.  In addition, Fast Casual magazine gave Camille’s Sidewalk Café the 13th spot within the top 100 Movers and Shakers among fast-casual restaurants.

David and Camille Rutkauskas, founders of Beautiful Brands International, launched the worldwide franchised brand in 1996, as well as the more recent Coney Beach, a retro, beach-inspired, fast-casual, gourmet hot dog and burger restaurant. Many industry observers predict that the new concept will surpass the growth of Camille’s Sidewalk Café, which currently has more than 1,000 cafés open or in development worldwide.

Lines are out the door at some locations.

Camille’s Sidewalk Café just opened its 100th café at one of Tulsa’s most historic and exclusive locations, Cherry Street, found on 15th Street between Utica and Peoria avenues. The cafés are now spread across the country in cities such as Rochester, New York; New York City; Boca Raton, Florida; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; South Los Angeles; and across the Midwest.

“The product is doing well wherever we take it,” says Steve Greene, chief operating officer of Beautiful Brands and Camille’s Franchise System. “People love our food.”

Camille’s breakfast menu features wraps, daily fresh squeezed orange juice and other breakfast items. The lunch and dinner menus consist of fresh healthy foods such as healthy wraps, grilled paninis, deli-style sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, soups, salads, smoothies, decadent desserts and a large selection of gourmet coffees and teas. The new Cherry Street location also has a wine bar serving the finest wines along with local favorites.

Camille’s growth has generally been demand-driven, based on prospects and franchisees.

Inside a Camille’s Sidewalk Café during lunch.

“If there’s a good operator who wants the business, that’s how we’ve been growing it,” says Greene. “It’s the way this brand has evolved, and sometimes building a brand in a diffused way is effective because the word gets out quicker. We’re now in airports and college campuses. That’s been our strategy and it’s worked and helped us get quicker brand identity across more populace.”

In choosing new sites, bigger is not necessarily better for Camille’s, which started in mall kiosks and knows its way around a small kitchen. The company is generally looking for 2,000 square feet, give or take, for new restaurants.

“Our current thinking is that if we grow smaller and keep our build-out, acquisition and equipment costs down, the payback is faster and better for our franchisees.”

The company is also focusing on B sites, as A sites are hard to come by.

“It’s very difficult for us to compete with bigger, more well known brands, so we have to compete for B sites,” adds Greene. “Anyone in this business can pick an A site — but the wisdom comes in by being able to separate Bs from Cs.”

Camille’s design is open, casual and comfortable with wide windows and absolutely no televisions, according to Greene. Camille’s target market is upscale females, ages 25 to 54. The restaurant has a cross-generational lunch — daughters, mothers, granddaughters, grandmothers — who like to linger and don’t want to talk over a T.V. In fact, that’s primarily what keeps developers happy, adds Greene.

“Women find us, love us and come back,” he explains. “A lifestyle center doesn’t need a brand you can get anywhere down the street. What differentiates a center is its uniqueness, and I think what does it is having a concept that’s not seven other places across town and that people will drive to.”

Beautiful Brands International plans to continue to initiate and expand innovative, non-competing brands to franchisees, area developers and future franchise partners with the goal of operating at least five concept ventures and 25,000 units worldwide by 2015. The company hopes to open 500 Camille’s Sidewalk Cafés in the next 5 years. But increasing competition and gas prices have affected everyone in the restaurant industry, says Greene, who predicts that Camille’s will realistically open 50 restaurants next year.

“This has not been a great year for food,” he notes. “We win pretty often because we have a $10 average ticket, but not always. Our transaction counts are up and our comps are up across the country. I think part of it is a disposable income battle and part of it is also alternative food and some fairly healthy food on our menu.”


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