From Edible Arrangements Leader to Wellness Entrepreneur: Ron Taylor's $53 Million Franchise Journey

After scaling his Edible Arrangements business to an all-time brand revenue record of $53 million, Ron Taylor could've walked away an entrepreneurial success story. Instead, he's made the pivot to the health and well-being sector, serving his community. Because for Taylor, success isn't just about scaling, it's about finding a market opportunity that delivers on purpose. Taylor built his franchising empire by mastering what he calls a "paint-by-numbers" approach and is now applying that system to the booming health and fitness realm via SweatHouz. Taylor's is a masterclass for entrepreneurs pondering just how to translate franchising success from one industry to another, demonstrating that a strong game plan, not just a great product, is the true standard for sustaining wealth, making money and serving the community.

1851 Franchise sat down with Taylor to discuss his transition into the health and wellness sector and his franchising journey with SWTHZ. Here’s what he had to say:

1851 Franchise: How would you frame your personal story?

Ron Taylor: I've been in franchising for 20 years. I opened my first franchise location in 2006 with Edible Arrangements and I did that right here in Youngstown, Ohio. Eventually my wife and I scaled that to nine locations across three states and then we sold off all of our locations in 2023 and actually exited the brand as the all-time leader in gross revenue in the history of the brand at a little over $53 million. 

We were also franchisees with a smaller brand called The Simple Greek. We had three locations and sold those in 2021. 

After we sold Edible Arrangements, we started looking for our next business opportunity and that's when we heard about SWTHZ and we decided to become multi-unit owners in the SWTHZ franchise brand.

1851: What did you do before franchising and how did you decide that franchising made sense for you?

Taylor: Well, I grew up in business. When you grew up in a small town like I did, your family owns a business. My dad owned his own business. You work in the business. That's pretty much the way it goes. 

I got my first exposure to franchising when I worked for a convenience store chain and I oversaw all of their branded food service concepts inside of their convenience stores. So, I was in charge of all food: I had Arby's, Taco Bell, Steak Escape, Godfather's Pizza, Baskin-Robbins and Subway. I even got to meet Fred DeLuca, the founder of Subway before he passed away — which was pretty cool. 

So, that was kind of my introduction to franchising and how franchising worked and I found it very interesting. 

I like a format and a game plan because I have zero creativity. I have no creativity whatsoever. But I'm very good at paint by numbers. I can totally stay within the lines and make something look really really good.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you’re in it?

Taylor: I think most people just think that it's burgers and fries, right? Like that's your only option for franchising. But it's not. There are huge opportunities in health and fitness, home services, technology — it's just a wide variety of things that you can get involved with in franchising. 

I also love that you're in business for yourself but you're not in business by yourself. You've got the support of a franchise brand. You still get a decent amount of latitude to operate and successfully run your locations at a local level with your own personality — your own flair — as long as you can stay within the guidelines of the brand.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about SWTHZ?

Taylor: When I exited with the other brands, I was really looking for opportunities in my career to do things where I could continue to earn a living. But through earning a living, I felt like I was also doing something that was helping either individuals or the community as a whole. 

With SWTHZ, we have a unique situation where obviously the studios can generate revenue and they can generate profit, but almost more importantly, they provide a wellness and benefit service to members of the community that allow people to improve their overall quality of life, giving them a mechanism and form of relaxation that is nonpharmacological, right? So, you're getting a lot of the same benefits from sauna and cold plunge that you can get from different types of medicine, but you can do it without putting a foreign substance in your body. 

So, to me, that had a lot of impact personally. Because as somebody who had just turned 50, I take health and wellness very seriously. I watched my parents age, and I really figured out ways that I want to keep myself healthy and well without necessarily having to take medicine. 

I also think there's a huge focus on fitness, but is there a huge focus on recovery? Well, SWTHZ, in my opinion, is about the best mechanism of op and option you can get from a recovery standpoint, because the data for sauna and cold plunge long term and short term is just overwhelmingly beneficial.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth?

Taylor: We have 11 licenses, and we have plans to scale in both the Pittsburgh and Akron-Canton markets. We just opened the second location, and we have a third location that's already under construction. It's slated to open before the end of the year. So, we'll have three locations open by the end of the year, and then we're looking diligently at where the fourth and fifth locations will be from a strategic game plan standpoint. The goal is to continue to scale and to continue to evaluate the brand and see how the markets respond to SWTHZ in the community and to the company overall. 

The brand just surpassed 70 locations. I think we were number 71 or 72. As the brand grows, so will the popularity and the share of voice. We have a tendency to grow along with that. And then, as any business owner or entrepreneur will tell you, you take what comes.

1851: Is there anything else about your story you want us to know?

Taylor: I play a ton of basketball. I still play at 5:45 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with a group of guys. For years, I went to West Virginia University’s Bob Huggins fantasy basketball camp. So I still love to hoop. That's one of my favorite things to do. You put a basketball in my hands and everything else just kind of melts away. So that's what I like to do. 

As for SWTHZ, I really like just how integral and important the staff is at each one of the locations. These are local people from the community, and they pour their heart and souls into our businesses. They’ve done that for me for years, right? 

I had four employees at Edible Arrangements who stayed with me for over 15 years. So I think being part of both the Boardman and Pittsburgh communities means working with people who take a lot of pride in being part of a small business. It makes my job as that small-business owner way easier. A lot of the accolades and rewards get heaped upon the owner, but the owner only plays a small role in it. It's more about the staff and the people that run the day-to-day functions, because they’re the people who make that guest experience special. 

Whether it be a fruit basket or your experience with sauna and cold plunge, it's really all about the staff that goes and does it every day. It's a bunch of people who really make me look smarter than I am.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming franchise owners?

Taylor: Start. You have to begin.

When I opened Edible Arrangements in 2006, I’d bet you I had 20 people walk in during the first two or three weeks and say, “You know, I was thinking about opening one of these.” And I’d think, “Well, then you probably should have done it,  because that location has been the busiest store in the franchise system for seven years in a row. You missed out on an opportunity by not doing it.”

So, to anybody that has ever asked me about franchising in any way, shape or form, the first thing I say is you have to start. You have to begin. Find a brand, explore the brand, and find yourself a consultant. There are a wealth of fantastic franchise consultants in the market and they work 100% for free for potential franchises. 

So stop talking about it and do it.

ABOUT SWEATHOUZ:

SweatHouz is a first-of-its-kind wellness concept offering private contrast therapy experiences with infrared sauna, cold plunge and Vitamin C showers in luxury, technology-forward suites. Designed for recovery, longevity and convenience, SWTHZ uses smart engineering and a membership-based model to make high-performance wellness accessible and effortless. With franchise opportunities available in select markets, SWTHZ is redefining the recovery space — one studio at a time. For more information, visit https://sweathouz.com/.