“We knew that the demand and availability of quick-delivery pizza was huge, but quality, freshness, and gourmet ingredients were non-existent,” says Dwayne Northrop, president and CEO of Garlic Jim’s. “We’ll be competing with Domino’s and Papa John’s on getting to your door quickly, but we’ll be competing with your favorite mom-and-pop pizza place on quality.”

A variable Garlic Jim’s won’t compete on is price. “We’ve positioned ourselves telling people this is a higher quality product,” Northrop says. “There’s buttermilk and parmesan cheese in the dough; it’s worth eating. There are four fresh sauce choices, four cheese choices, and gourmet toppings. You’re going to get what you pay for, and our customers are showing us they’re willing to pay a few dollars more.”

A large specialty pizza runs $17 or $18, and the average ticket is $20. Even so, the stores are handling 650 to 700 orders per week, and every location has opened above $10,000 in the first week. Ten had more than $15,000 in first-week sales, and three brought in more than $20,000 in the first week.

The chain opened its first store in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington, in March 2004. Eighteen stores are currently open and 45 franchises have been sold in three states: Washington, Oregon, and Arizona.

The secret to the “Garlic Guys’” success is a meticulously planned franchise machine. The process begins with demographic research to indentify with prime markets, those with a high concentration of educated, upwardly mobile families with children. Franchisees choose their markets at sales seminars.

The company real estate team assists with finding locations—most are in strip shopping centers—and negotiating leases.  The company architect designs each 1,200-square-foot store. All kitchens have the same dimensions for efficiency.

Franchisees choose a builder from an approved list of contractors with experience building Garlic Jim’s or similar stores and who have committed to a five-week delivery schedule. Store costs, including the franchise fee, lease deposit, and construction, are averaging $250,000. Franchisees must attend four weeks of onsite training before construction begins.

“Once construction starts,” Northrop says, “you’re nine weeks from opening. We have a timeline that kicks in that tells you what to do each day.” When construction is complete, four weeks are set aside for training employees.

Regional commissaries ensure the same high-quality pizzas are served systemwide. Fresh-made dough, sauces, toppings, and paper goods are delivered to franchisees several times a week. “We keep it simple for the franchisee,” Northrop says. “The only thing they have to do is open up the products and put them on the prep table.”

The top-selling pizza is the Garlic Jim’s Ultimate, a combination of meats and vegetables. A close second is the Gourmet Garlic, made with pesto sauce, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta cheese. An unusual concoction, and Garlic Jim’s trademark, is the Nutty Chipotle, which includes Chipotle pesto and cashews.

After successful opening weeks, the stores are maintaining high sales, averaging $13,000 a week. The advertising budget has been virtually nil—just word-of-mouth and fliers in a few places, along with a grassroots marketing plan that includes neighborhood sampling events. “We’ve really been flying under the radar,” Northrop says. “We’re just having our coming-out right now.”

Founder and operator Greg Buchheister was 26 and working in an Italian restaurant in Colorado when he discovered the coffee that would become his lifeblood. The restaurant imported wine from the Ghigo family in Northern Italy, equally famous in their homeland for great coffee. When the wine shipments were accompanied by coffee samples, the restaurant held blind tastings and found customers repeatedly preferred the Ghigo coffee. Buchheister saw potential in importing the brand and launched a distributorship to do so. Amante means “lover” or “mistress” in Italian and seemed appropriate, given the seductive qualities of good coffee.

Buchheister partnered with James M. Temple, now the CEO, in mid-2004, after Temple suggested turning Amante into a retail brand. The two share a background in ski racing, which Buchheister says is evidence of their risk-taking personalities. And Temple has proven talent for growing a small business into a multimillion-dollar firm: He founded Case Logic, the electronics storage accessory producer, in 1984 at the age of 28. That company’s sales hit $17 million in five years.

Amante opened its first two retail stores in March and May in Boulder. A Steamboat Springs store opened in October. A fourth location will open in the Erie/Lafayette area, and 10 more are planned over the next three years in Aspen, Vail, and Denver, before the company looks beyond Colorado.

The menu mirrors that of an Italian café, where patrons sit down for a cup of coffee, a snack, or an afternoon. The stores, which range in size from 800 to almost 1,800 square-feet, offer roughly 10 espresso drinks, all for $1. They sell cappuccinos, lattes, drinks made with gelato and coffee liqueurs, and simple Italian roast and French press coffee. Fine wines and beers are available in the evenings, along with cheese platters and snacks. Other fare includes Italian croissants, muffins, rolls, and baguettes. Panini sandwiches are made daily with classic Italian ingredients, and desserts include tiramisu, cheesecakes, and gelati.

As important as the menu is the atmosphere. “We are trying to offer a different, more traditional coffee experience,” Buchheister says. “Sixty percent of our coffee is served in-house in porcelain cups. That’s what we want—for people to take a little Italian vacation every time they come in.” The environment is a mix of old and new, with walnut millwork, vibrant colors, plasma televisions, and free WiFi—all surrounding a classic old coffee machine.

Beyond the coffee—a round, robust, rich flavor, free of bitterness—Amante excels in service. “We must compete with Starbucks and the other guys on speed of service,” Buchheister says. “We offer that speed but with very high quality.” Amante’s baristas train for several months behind a machine and must be able to create at least one latte art design with the froth. “I stress the importance of latte art,” Buchheister says, “it gives customers a great experience before they even taste the coffee.”