“What I enjoy is putting people to work and giving them the opportunity to feed their family.  That’s more gratifying to me than anything else,” Maurice Welton said.  Since 2007, he has opened four Edible Arrangements stores in the Valley. The store’s artfully cut fresh fruit baskets and bouquets have become a welcome addition to parties around the Valley. Welton is pleased that the demand for Edible Arrangements products keeps 16 people employed cutting, arranging and delivering fresh fruit along with colorful chocolate-covered fruits.  

Welton got his start in food service at 14, washing pots at a bakery. He found his calling when the night baker mentored him, showing the Bronx teenager how to measure ingredients and prep food.  “Food service offers lots of joy. I realized if I did it really well, wherever I went, I’d have a job the rest of my life.”

Welton joined the U.S. Army and attended the prestigious culinary school at Johnson & Wales University.  “Everybody’s dream as a culinary grad was to have a restaurant. I got into the management side because that’s where the money was.”   As an army food inspector, Welton was assigned to the McAllen plant that made the military’s Meals Ready to Eat and stayed in the Valley for five years.

After leaving the army, Welton saw the owner of Edible Arrangements talking on TV and became intrigued by his product and philosophy. After the franchise vetted Welton, he chose McAllen as the site for his first store.

Being part of a franchise provides name recognition and helps open the market for your product, while the Web site speeds Internet ordering, Welton said. “Franchises work so well, because they are going to reliably provide the same thing every time.”

Yet franchise arrangements have to be a win-win for both parties, and operating a franchise requires hard work and long hours. “Nothing works by chance, nothing,” Welton said. “It all works by getting up and doing it, having discipline and passion.”

With successful stores in McAllen, Harlingen and Brownsville, Welton decided a year ago to open a store in Weslaco’s downtown, siting the newest Edible Arrangements on Texas Avenue rather than selecting an expressway frontage location.

For more of this story by Eileen Mattei, pick up a copy of the September print edition of Valley Business Report or visit the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this Web site.