THE new owners of Croissant Express will expand the business’s operations in Perth before opening a series of stores on the eastern seaboard.
THE new owners of Croissant Express will expand the business’s operations in Perth before opening a series of stores on the eastern seaboard.
The 11-store, predominantly CBD-based food-to-go retail chain was sold to Jonathan Huston and Glen Evans last week for an undisclosed sum, believed to be a multi-million dollar single digit figure.
Croissant Express was established in 1987 by Geoff Cross and Maurice O’Connor, who built up the $8-million-a-year business through product innovation and growing store numbers.
Currently there are 10 Perth stores and one in Queensland.
Mr Cross said the concept had revolutionised lunch bars in WA.
He said he and Mr O’Connor decided to sell the business because they felt it was ready for a new stage of growth that required new energy levels.
Mr Huston said he and Mr Evans anticipated growth of five to 10 per cent a year and would first focus on the Western Australian market.
“Our intention is to retain the business model and grow in Perth,” he said. “There’s lots of oppor-tunity, particularly in East Perth and West Perth. We will then expand Queensland after Perth, but I think we have to earn our stripes.
“I can see it growing by five to 10 per cent per annum; we’re not planning a massive roll-out.”
Mr Huston is a former Australian Army major and more recently oversaw a period of significant growth at Tint-a-Car, where he had a significant equity position.
“I led the $18 million manage-ment buy-out of Tint-a-Car in 1999,” he said.
“Its turnover went from $25 million to $60 million in four years.
“We grew the business to South Africa and New Zealand and were bought out in 2003. I left the business to come back to Perth and looked for something else to get involved with. I was looking for a smaller business where I would have a much larger stake.”
Mr Evans, has spent 25 years in the food and beverage industry and will focus on the group’s daily operations, while Mr Huston will focus on strategic direction.
The buyers are backed by Foundation Capital, a Perth venture capital group.
The business, which has six company-owned stores, was mark-eted by Mergers & Acquisitions.
