By COURTNEY BAIRD
Orange County’s 30 largest women-owned businesses saw a 10% gain to $1.3 billion in 2004 sales and took on more than 250 workers in the past year.
The sales gain is the third in a row for the county’s women-owned businesses, which slumped in 2001 and rebounded in 2002 and 2003.
The county’s two largest women-owned companies, Irvine-based In-N-Out Burgers Inc. and Pool Water Products Inc., also of Irvine, led the gains.
No. 1 In-N-Out, which has topped the list for the past four years, saw an estimated 9% gain to $375 million in 2004 sales.
The company, a family business majority-owned by matriarch Esther Snyder, doesn’t disclose revenue. Our estimate is based on reports from restaurant trade publications and our own analysis.
In-N-Out is more than three times larger than No. 2 Irvine-based Pool Water Products Inc., which is owned by Zelma “Zee” Allred. Pool Water Products, which sells pool and spa products, saw a 15% gain to $116 million in 2004 sales.
The gain at Pool Water Products helped the company take the No. 2 spot from Orange-based Villa Ford Inc. The Ford dealer saw 2004 sales slip 5% to $110.6 million, a decline that echoes a national falloff in Ford sales last year.
The rest of the companies count 2004 sales of less than $100 million each. The top three companies represent nearly half,46%,of the revenue on the list.
The list, ranked by 2004 sales, includes companies that are majority-owned by women, or 52% or more women-owned in the case of husband-wife teams.
Seventeen of this year’s companies are 100% women-owned, up from 13 on last year’s list.
The biggest company owned entirely by a woman is Irvine-based Systems Source Inc., which held the No. 4 spot from last year. The office furniture dealer posted a 3% rise to $79.2 million in 2004 revenue.
The biggest newcomer is No. 11 Costa Mesa-based Rauxa Direct LLC (see related story, page 57). The direct marketing company’s sales rose 61% last year to $32.4 million.
“We’re projecting $45 million in sales in 2005, and as of first quarter we were right on our projection,” Chief Executive Jill Gwaltney said.
No. 19 Irvine-based Casco Contractors Inc. and No. 26 Anaheim-based Hollister Construction Co., two contractor businesses, also debuted on the list. Both companies are 100% women-owned and do tenant improvement work.
Casco also posted an eye-catching 350% gain to $18 million for the 12 months ended March 31.
“We’re becoming recognized as a player in the industry, versus just being ‘that small woman-owned contractor,’ which is what people used to refer to us as,” Casco owner Cheryl Osborn said.
Hollister also posted a sizable gain, nearly doubling 2004 revenue to $11.2 million.
No. 27 Yorba Linda-based CDCE Inc., which customizes portable computers, saw sales fall 20% to $8 million. A spokesman for the company said CDCE continues to be profitable.
In terms of employment, the 30 companies hired 262 workers in the past year, a 6% gain. Companywide, they added 2% more jobs for a total of 9,210 workers.
No. 6 Los Alamitos-based Frieda’s Inc., a marketer of specialty produce, saw a big employment drop with a 22% decrease to 86 local workers.
The high cost of workers’ compensation insurance premiums forced Frieda’s to outsource some work, owner Karen Caplan said.
The Business Journal estimates Frieda’s 2004 revenue at $50 million, unchanged from a year earlier.
“Outsourcing hasn’t affected our revenue but it has affected our cost and our head count,” Caplan said.
Twenty-one companies reported hiring more OC workers in the past year. Nine posted double-digit gains in local employment. Two companies posted declines in OC workers. Two companies were flat.
Off the list this year: Alpha Systems Lab Inc., last year’s No. 7, which was sold and no longer is woman-owned, and Allen Tel Products Inc., which ranked No. 15 last year and moved from Santa Ana to Nevada.
