News

Let's Dish!™ goes to St. Louis

Company signs seven-store development agreement with Marco Meal Solutions, Inc. to expand its presence in the midwestern U.S.

October 4, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS (October 5, 2005)— Let's Dish!Ôtoday announced it has signed a franchise area development agreement with Minneapolis-based Marco Meal Solutions, Inc., to franchise seven Let's Dish! retail meal preparation stores in the St. Louis area within the next three and a half years. This agreement is a significant step toward the company's national expansion plans just two years after Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Ruth Lundquist and Darcy Olson opened their first Let's Dish! location. Marco Meal Solutions, Inc. is owned by John Marcotte, Harold Roitenberg and Gary Holmes. This group of national retail and commercial real estate veterans is also a franchisee with Great Clips, Inc. a national hair salon chain. John Marcotte, CEO and operating officer of Marco Meal Solutions, Inc., has more than 34 years of retail and franchising experience. He has served as vice president of operations for two national retail companies, Best Buy, Inc and Modern Merchandising, Inc. Marcotte is also the CEO and operating officer of Seaco, Inc., which currently operates 26 salons in Minneapolis, St. Louis and Seattle."Let's Dish! is the breakaway brand in this category and our ability to attract high quality partners such as Marco Meal Solutions is a testament to our success," said Lundquist. "We've spent two years laying the groundwork and have built a strong, sustainable business model with enormous growth potential. We are excited to share with St. Louis-area families a whole new way to serve high-quality, craveable meals at home." "We were immediately impressed with Let's Dish!," said Marcotte. "They not only have a great business model but also a highly qualified senior management team with great entrepreneurial instincts. We are excited to be a part of the brand we believe will lead the retail meal preparation category."Let's Dish! currently has three company-owned locations in the fast-growing Twin Cities suburbs of Eden Prairie, Maple Grove and Woodbury. In November 2005, the company will open its national prototype store in Apple Valley, Minn. Let's Dish! also has four licensed locations, including two in Maryland, one in Virginia and one in Washington. The average store is 2,300 square feet and generates annual store sales in excess of $1.4 million dollars. About The Let's Dish! ConceptLet's Dish! was one of the first retail meal preparation stores in the country when Lundquist and Olson introduced their concept in October 2003. Their goal was to create a great business by offering people a fresh, new way to feed their families. Customers make menu choices, sign up and prepay for sessions at the company's website. When customers arrive at the store, refrigerated workstations for each menu item are stocked with all necessary ingredients, which can be varied to meet specific tastes. Customers rotate from station to station preparing eight to 12 different entrees each designed to serve six. The meals are then brought home to be frozen or refrigerated and cooked at a later date. For more information visitwww.letsdish.com.

Food & Beverage