Images courtesy of Beautiful Brands

TULSA, Okla. — Beautiful Brands International has had a busy start to 2009 adding four new franchise concepts to its portfolio: The Crusty Croissant, Greenz – Salads for Z' Adventurous, Dixie Cream Donuts and Kyro Pizza.

The Crusty Croissant was first opened in Tulsa, Okla., in March 2008. The restaurant features croissants, crepes, chicken, turkey, quiches and pork tenderloin, along with shrimp and spinach pasta dishes. Also on the menu are salads and fruit, coffees, teas and a pastry case filled with desserts.

"We're thrilled to be adding another high-quality concept to the Beautiful Brands International portfolio of brands," David Rutkauskas, Beautiful Brands International founder, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement about the deal with The Crusty Croissant.  "It's not everyday you discover a business model of this caliber with such enormous national appeal and franchising potential. We believe it's a great opportunity to utilize our time tested business systems to turn the success this brand has enjoyed locally into a winning formula nationwide."

The agreement between Sean and Kristie Savage, owners of The Crusty Croissant, and Beautiful Brands International will utilize the company's organizational and support system to market and franchise the brand on a national and global scale, according to Rutkauskas. Beautiful Brands International's support will include product development, marketing, real estate, architecture, legal, franchise sales, and other aspects of franchise development. The Crusty Croissant will be positioned as a fast-casual Bakery Café concept, with a smaller footprint and lower startup costs than many of its competitors, according to the company.

"I can't tell you how honored Kristie and I are to be working with Beautiful Brands and David," said Sean Savage. "I know with their expertise and involvement, the franchising potential of our brand is unlimited. We have an excellent opportunity to fill an industry segment for creative Euro-cuisine at a reasonable cost. And, to develop our brand globally according to a very successful proven approach through Beautiful Brands International."

Greenz was founded in Dallas in 2004 and has grown to a three unit chain. The concept features a number of salad creations that are typically found in fine dining restaurants. These include: Apple Walnut, Warm Pear and Goat Cheese, Tofu and Veggies, Grilled Chicken Riviera, Spicy Panko Shrimp, BBQ Texas Slaw and Hawaiian Tuna. The menu also includes wraps, sandwiches, and soups.

"Greenz is an innovative fast casual salad concept that serves guests amazing salads in a refreshing atmosphere," said Rut­kauskas.  "Its solid business model and franchising potential makes Greenz the perfect addition to our portfolio of Beautiful Brands to market across the globe."

"At Greenz, we've been redefining the salad while refining our business model since the company was started," said Casie Caldwell, owner of Greenz. "It's always been a goal to franchise this concept and I know with the expertise and involvement of David Rutkauskas and his team at Beautiful Brands the franchising potential of Greenz is significant. Now is a great time to fill an industry segment for creative and innovative salads available no where else."

"When I founded Greenz with my dear friend, Jennifer Huval, it was our goal to transform the way people think about salads," said Caldwell.  "And now with the help of Beautiful Brands we will be able to do that across the nation and ultimately around the world."

With Dixie Cream Donuts, Beautiful Brands has signed an agreement with Tulsa-based Daylight Donut Flour Company, parent company of Dixie Cream Donuts, to franchise and market the Dixie Cream Donuts brand.

"Beautiful Brands's track record and reputation in the franchising industry made this partnership a perfect match," said Jason Bond, marketing director for Dixie Cream Donuts/Daylight Donut Flour Company. "They have the expertise and resources to position Dixie Cream for explosive growth. We knew having Dixie Cream become a part of the Beautiful Brands franchise family was the best thing for us, our franchisees and future franchise partners as we look to develop the brand into a world-class franchise."

Dixie Cream Donuts was founded in 1922 in Dallas and became nationally known as the first brand to develop a donut mix that only required adding water and yeast. At its peak, Dixie Cream had 400 stores across the nation. Daylight Donut Flour Company bought Dixie Cream Donuts in 2005.

Like the deal with Dixie Cream Donuts, in adding Kyro Pizza to its portfolio Beautiful Brands will also support marketing, real estate, architecture, legal, franchise sales and franchise development.

"We believe this is a fantastic opportunity to develop this innovative brand coast to coast and even overseas in places like the Middle East," said Rutkauskas.  "They have a solid business model and a powerful potential to become a star player in our portfolio of Beautiful Brands. There's really no place like it anywhere in the world."

Kyro Pizza will be marketed as a fast-casual, brick oven pizzeria, with a relatively small footprint of only 1,200-1,500 square feet and an average ticket sale of $10 - $15.

Founded in Baltimore in 2008, Kyro Pizza has received rave reviews from the Baltimore area for its brick oven style pizza. With culinary creations such as Tandoori Chicken Pizza, General Tso's Pizza, and its trademark creation, Falafel Pizza, Kyro's menu features a fusion of Mediterranean, Asian and American influences. In addition to pizza, customers can also choose from a variety of pastas, salads and hot sandwiches served on freshly baked pita bread.