| <No.551> |
| Growing Business Offers Paint with a Twist of Wine |
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It is the grand opening of the latest franchise studio
of Painting with a Twist.
Co-founders, Cathy Deano and Renee Maloney
flew into Ashburn, Virginia,
for the event.
"We thought we just had one studio
in our home town in Mandeville, Louisiana.
And it's now grown to 173 franchises
and grown in 26 states."
The stay-at-home mothers first met
at their children's kindergarten class
seven years ago.
"We were looking for a way
to bring some color back
into our community.
We were still reeling from Hurricane Katrina.
And we came up with this idea
of speed painting classes.
And it was a lot of fun,
and people loved it.
And so we decided to start up a little business."
Their studio provides art supplies -
paint, canvas, brushes, and art instructors.
Pairing that with wine or beer is optional.
"The beauty of this is
you don't have to be an artist.
You can come
and know nothing about painting.
And there is an artist
who will teach you how to paint a painting
in two to three hours.
That's a twist."
Their first class in 2007 had only seven people.
But it grew steadily
and two years later
the entrepreneurs decided to franchise their business.
"Our frequent customers are asking us
for these studios in their towns.
They think we should franchise.
So, our first three franchises came out of our customers."
Today there are about 200 companies
offering so-called paint and sip parties,
and Entrepreneur magazine named Painting with a Twist
the top franchise in the industry this year.
As Painting with a Twist expands,
the entrepreneurs are proud
that they are creating jobs.
"We are the largest employer of artists in the United States
outside the school system.
At this point, we have close to a thousand artists
working in our franchises."
Maloney and Deano expect to add 50 new locations across the nation
by the end of the year.
And they are working
on opening up internationally soon.
Amy Katz, VOA News |
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