Orange County’s 40 largest women-owned businesses saw a 7% gain to $2 billion in sales last year, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The sales gain is the fourth in a row for the county’s women-owned businesses, which have rebounded strongly from the economic downturn earlier this decade.
Women also own bigger stakes of the companies on this year’s year list. They own on average 90% of the 40 businesses on the list, up from 87% last year.
Twenty-six of this year’s companies are 100% women owned, up from 17 on last year’s list.
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The list, ranked by 2005 sales, includes companies that are majority owned by women, or 52% or more woman owned in the case of husband-wife teams.
Twenty-four companies reported sales increases, with just one posting a decline. Three were flat. The others didn’t disclose sales and are Business Journal estimates.
No. 1 In-N-Out Burgers Inc. and No. 3 Pool Water Products, both of Irvine, led the gains among the top companies.
Burger chain In-N-Out, which perennially tops the list, had an estimated 5% gain in revenue to $395 million.
The company, a family business owned by matriarch Esther Snyder, doesn’t disclose revenue. The Business Journal’s estimate is based on reports from restaurant trade publications and our own analysis.
In-N-Out and ousted executive Richard Boyd tangled in a legal dispute during the past year. Boyd, co-trustee on several family trusts held on behalf of Lynsi Martinez, Snyder’s 23-year-old sole heir, claimed that Martinez was trying to oust him and speed her own succession.
In-N-Out filed a countersuit in January, accusing Boyd of embezzlement and fraud, including the use of company construction crews to remodel his home. He was removed from the company at a board meeting later that month.
The sides reached a settlement last month. Details weren’t disclosed.
No. 2 Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel saw sales fall 3% to $294 million in 2005. Auto dealership owner Lorelei Pingree wasn’t available to comment.
Three other auto dealers made the list.
No. 4 Elmore Toyota Scion in Westminster posted flat sales of $131 million in 2005. No. 5 Villa Ford Inc. in Orange eked out a 1% gain to $112 million last year.
No. 14 Lamborghini Orange County of Santa Ana, which sells luxury Italian sports cars made by Automobili Lamborghini Holding SPA, was a big gainer.
The dealership, majority owned by Nora and Astrid Keuylian, saw sales rise 39% to $38.5 million last year.
At No. 3 was Pool Water Products, owned by Zelma “Zee” Allred, Carol Allred-Starr and Dean Allred. Women own 80% of the company.
Pool Water Products, which sells pool and spa products, saw a 20% gain to $139 million in 2005 sales.
A strong housing market and home improvement spending likely helped spur the increase.
No. 10 Cookie Lee Inc. in Irvine came onto the Business Journal’s radar in the past year. The jewelry company, which works on the home party, direct sales model used by Mary Kay Holding Corp. and Tupperware Brands Corp., has grown from one salesperson in 1992 to 35,000 today.
Cookie Lee is estimated at $50 million in 2005 revenue. Lee, the company’s founder and 100% owner, recently won a Business Journal Women in Business award (see related story, page 10).
Another debut: No. 39 Dejon Enterprises Inc., a Cypress-based McDonald’s operator run by Isabelle Villasenor with an estimated $8 million in revenue last year.
Villasenor has a hand in a local startup bank that is set to cater to the county’s growing Hispanic population.
The Corona del Mar resident, who runs several McDonald’s franchises in Los Angeles and OC, including two at John Wayne Airport, is a founding director of Santa Ana-based Fortis Business Bank.
The list’s 40 companies employed 9,622 people, up 2% from a year earlier. The women-owned businesses counted nearly half of their workers,4,661,at their OC operations.
Seventeen companies reported hiring more local workers in the past year. Five companies posted declines in OC workers. Eight were flat. The rest didn’t provide local employment numbers.
