There are some very stark similarities in business philosophy that teamed The Big Salad with AL!VE. The biggest is the belief that both are in business to impact people’s lives.
NOURISH by The Big Salad opened for business Monday, Oct. 6 inside AL!VE, marking the beginning of a partnership to create “small victories” in the greater-Charlotte area.
John Bornoty, founder and CEO of The Big Salad, said he and his wife opened their first The Big Salad restaurant in 2008 with the intent of creating a place that changed people’s lives.
“The Big Salad is all about creating small victories,” Bornoti said during a special preview of the restaurant on Friday, Oct. 3. “With every task completed, every act of kindness shared and every dream followed, a small victory is realized,” he said. “At The Big Salad we believe happiness is achieved one small victory at a time.”
Patrick Sustrich, executive director of AL!VE, reached out to Bornoty a year ago to inquire about franchise opportunities.
“We had never intended in operating NOURISH ourselves,” Sustrich said. “One of our goals is to continue to create services that bring people regionally to Charlotte to bring more people to our area, which everyone should benefit from.”
The Big Salad provided the right mix of healthy food and business philosophy, which includes a commitment to helping people accomplish their goals. The challenge was convincing Bornoty his business could succeed in a community much smaller than his restaurant’s other locations.
“As soon as we arrived, we immediately saw the fit,” Bornoti said. “After meeting Patrick and Matt Rush and after touring the facility and meeting the team and really getting to understand the AL!VE culture, I knew that this could be a winner. The culture, the team, the synergies were all amazing and suddenly it all began to make sense.”
Sustrich said food is imperative to the vision of AL!VE in that it has provided an opportunity to create a space that refreshes, encourages and reawakens us.
“Food is an essential part of our lives,” Sustrich said. “Food not only nourishes our body, but has the power to unite us mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Food is often at the core of the milestones of our life — a first date, a wedding reception, a funeral.”
NOURISH by The Big Salad offers an enormous selection of salad, sandwich and wrap options (more than 17 million combinations), including your choice of iceburg or romaine lettuce or baby spinach, more than 40 different toppings and 30 different dressing options. NOURISH by The Big Salad is open Monday through Sunday, beginning at 7 a.m. for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
