THE GRANOLA SISTERS
[img_assist|nid=641|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=250|height=166]by Kathleen James
Photography by Hubert Schriebl
If granola were the subject of a blockbuster film—an unlikely prospect, but for the sake of discussion—the Avlon sisters of Manchester and Dorset could be the leading ladies. And it wouldn’t be a regular movie. No way. This flick would be IMAX, Technicolor and Surround Sound. And you might want 3D glasses and subtitles, because the sisters all talk at the same time and come at you from all sides. I mean this in the best possible way; an audience with the Avlon sisters is highly entertaining.
In 2006, the four sisters banded together, under the company name Vermont Bake Shop, to sell desserts over the Internet. By fall of 2007, they had abandoned the desserts and were heavy into high-end granola, which has a longer shelf life and is easier to package and to ship. Sales have been sweet: With five flavors of Malfunction Junction granola and two kinds of Long Trail trail mix, this relatively new product, in its distinctive dark-green heat-sealed bags, is now sold in 40 stores across six states. It’s available at Orvis and the Vermont Country Store, offered to college students at the University of Vermont and Bennington College, and sold online through the Vermont Bake Shop’s Website (www.vermontbakeshop.com). “We’re the original Manchester granola company,” Nancy says. “We’re proud of that.”
So why the success? Besides the obvious—hard work and business savvy—the answer lies in the granola itself, which is truly, genuinely, fabulously good. It’s far more than a bag of sugary oats. “We sampled it to customers and it started flying off the shelves,” says Nancy Scheps of Al Ducci’s Italian Pantry. “We don’t carry a lot of Vermont products, because so many other local businesses do that. But this is something people really like.”
We’ll start with basic bios, just to get oriented. Linda Avlon Colaluca is the oldest, at 59, and the only sister who doesn’t live in southern Vermont. She lives in Indiana and recently wrapped up a successful 20-year marketing and management career in the cable-television industry. Next is Carol Avlon, 54. She lives in Manchester and owned a real-estate firm in New Jersey for 20 years. Sister three is Nancy Avlon Biller of South Dorset, 51, who coordinated factory operations for an aerospace firm. And finally, the foodie: Holly Avlon, 46, of Manchester Center. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and has spent her career in gourmet baking and catering. Though all four sisters pitch in with everything, it’s simplest to say that Holly and Carol run the kitchen while Nancy and Linda oversee the sales….
