About Us

OUR Video

WITH OVER 23 YEARS OF FRANCHISE EXPERIENCE,
WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE SUPPORT & SUCCESS OF OUR FRANCHISEES

Ken Petersen, Our Founder

Similarly to the way styles and trends evolve, our company continues to progress. We’re so grateful and humbled by our rapid growth. We consider God as the chairman of our board and are guided by proverbs 21:21 (whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor). Alongside our store owners, we work tirelessly to provide support and infrastructure while maintaining the flexibility our franchisees enjoy.

OUR History

August 1991

Apricot Lane retail boutiques are supported by their franchisor, Country Visions, Inc. A unique partnership of Ken Petersen, Tom Brady and Scott Jacobs who opened their first retail gift store in August 1991 in Vacaville, California. Their operation was an instant success. In less than two years, the business partners opened a second and third store. Soon after, their plans to franchise the concept were born.

2007

Together, they began to broaden their merchandise and react to economic changes. And in 2007, they introduced the first Apricot Lane – a women’s fashion and gift boutique. Today, Country Visions, Inc. supports more than 75 franchise stores with plans to welcome 15-20 stores to the Apricot Lane family each year. Led by the founding partners and a dedicated staff, Country Visions, Inc. is committed to the support and success of every franchisee.

2008

In spring of 2008, the prestigious International Council of Shopping Centers Association (ICSC) awarded Apricot Lane as the Hot Retail Concept for Fashion. ICSC has a membership of more than 70,000 people who cast votes for this award.

2008 to 2014

That same year, Entrepreneur Magazine listed Apricot Lane as one of the Top 50 Hot Franchises of the Year. Apricot Lane has also earned a spot on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 50 Hottest Franchise list in 2008 and in the famous annual Top 500 List (published each January) in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015. Plaque Icon placed here.

Our Team

Patrick Stewart, CEO

Patrick is our leader and his passion is helping others succeed. He is intensely focused on meeting the needs of our franchisees, customers, communities, and our staff. A retail veteran, an entrepreneur, and a huge fan of Test & Learn to continually improve, he’s an avid believer that you should pursue your dreams. He is often heard saying, “If you love what you’re doing and put the customer first, success will follow.”

Chris Lanning, President of Retail

Chris is highly accomplished in creating consumer winning experiences, immersing consumers in the brand, ensuring loyalty. Ultimately focused on building Franchise capabilities through best-in-class Merchandising, Retail Operations and teams. He has held General Manager and senior leadership roles at Gap, Inc, The Coca-Cola Company, DSW, Inc and L Brands. He also founded CTL Retail Partners LLC, a retail and consumer products consulting practice, providing expertise and thought leadership for retail clients.

Ken Petersen ,Founder

Ken is our dreamer of great dreams and continual cheerleader as he understands the strength that comes in numbers, drawing us together to make positive distinctions in our lives. He is also the founder of 3 Strands, dedicated to the fight againt human trafficking and providing employment for at-risk individuals.

Scott Jacobs, Executive Vice President

As one of our founding partners with more than 25 years of franchise experience, Scott makes sure we are on the right course providing franchisees with the latest technology and tools in marketing, communications, technical support, and e-commerce.

Terry Odneal ,VP & Director - Franchise Development

Terry manages our development department looking for new franchisees, helping us gain the strengths that scale offers. His 20+ years of experience and knowledge about franchising will be comforting to answer all your questions.

Darcie Reeping ,Director of Merchandising

Darcie is our Director of Merchandising who has a robust retail background from department stores, discounters, and specialty retail. Her insights provide an understanding for how the customer shops and builds her wardrobe. Her passion is for the product and architecting the right balance of fashionable merchandise layered with new trends for the season. Meeting Brands and Owners from all over the country is one of her favorite things about this business.

Maureen Coyan ,Manager of Training

With over 2 decades of experience in retail store sales and operations, Maureen supports the training needs of our store owners. From onboarding new franchisees to providing tools that support continued growth and development of owners and their staff. Passionate about helping others meet their full potential, Maureen is here to assist in learning the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful Apricot Lane Boutique owner.

Ellen Odren ,Visual Merchandising Manager

With a degree in Fashion Merchandising and years of retail experience, Ellen uses her passion to help franchisees develop their store from a blank slate to their Boutique vision. She sets the scene from opening day and helps keep store owners on track to reach their goals of operating a successful business.

Rosemarie Ursua Merchandise ,Manager

Rosemarie has years of retail and buying experience both in stores and on the vendor side. She will assist you in putting together a great assortment for you store that will delight you and your customers!

Jillian Fittipaldi Retail ,Operations Coordinator

After gaining years of retail experience including managing Wet Seal, B.Moss, and several Apricot Lane stores in Pennsylvania, Jill joined our HQ team in 2018 to help with in-store training, ops and social media which evolved into her current role. JIll’s life revolves around fashion and she currently has 3 closets filled with Apricot Lane clothing!

Shari Papadopoulos ,Graphic Designer

When you have a promotional idea and want it to come to life, Shari can help. As our graphic designer, she is adept at creating every type of marketing element for our store owners to use in promoting their business to their customers.

Crystal Baker, Accounting

Crystal keeps count of everything in our business. Her attention to detail and payment deadlines are her specialty, you could say she is the ultimate bean counter

Gretchen Dennis, Office Manager

As Office Manager, Gretchen keeps the office running smoothly with shipping, supplies, calendar maintenance, and facilities. She assists the Operations Department with monthly reports and gentle reminders to all. She is also the Distribution Manager for 3Strands and as such handles customer service and order fulfillment.

Service Providers

Colin H. Klos AIA, ALA/MBA Architect

For construction management, MBA provides all the tools necessary to build our Apricot Lane Boutiques to spec. With all the parties involved in construction and their numerous needs and deadlines, Colin makes the journey more enjoyable and certainly memorable. Providing service for: 5 years

Dan Fronk Dancor ,Solutions, Inc.

In order for our franchise system to have direct access to the latest Apricot Lane resources 24/7, we turned to Dancor Solutions, Inc. to create a custom “intranet” website. This secure website enables our franchisees, managers & staff to easily access the latest programs, information, training, resources and materials from each department at headquarters. This includes seasonal marketing campaigns, workshops, webinars, training videos, info links and even the latest lifestyle photos from our vendors to use for social postings. With clients such as Macy’s, Express and Ann Taylor, Dancor plays an important role in making sure the latest tools and information are available to assist with the success of Apricot Lane Boutique's retail business.

Cory Boatman, Project Manager/Ace Sign Company

For superior exterior branding, Apricot Lane Boutiques count on Cory and his team of signage production professionals. They provide the precise requirements demanded by the developers of each franchise location. Providing service for: 8 years

Michelle Newbury, A Closer Look

Honored as an ELITE Company within the mystery shopping industry, A-Closer-Look has over 20 years of experience providing focused consumer insights needed to keep your business flourishing. While many Mystery Shopping companies allow anyone with a computer to become a shopper, A-Closer-Look is high selective with their evaluators to ensure they are prepared to gather information critical to your operational success. They secret shop EVERY Apricot Lane Boutique, and provide the owner with reports that are both smart and powerfully illuminating. Providing service for: 5 years

Peter F Travers ,Comprehensive Loyalty, Inc.

Comprehensive Loyalty is key to helping every prospective new Apricot Lane Boutique owners to put their new store in an optimal location. They are experts in site location and sales forecasting for retail. Their team has deep experience, top-notch analytic skills and strategic relationships with cutting easy companies like Experian, Strategy, and Site perfect Research, bringing them together under one system to properly address the sales potential of each unique retail location using an analytics model developed exclusively for Apricot Lane. Providing service for: 6 years

Steve Galligan, Co-Founder & CEO/IDS

Integrated Retail Strategies (IDS) helps Apricot Lane Boutique owners drive traffic to their store, attract new and retain existing customers. They have a team of highly skilled professionals that are experts in high ROI digital marketing including hyper-local SEO, local search automation, mobile site optimization, social media strategy, content creation, and influencer marketing. Since the universe of social media, including bloggers and those with large and extremely engaged followings on the social networks has expanded exponentially, it’s a vital part of every boutique owner’s marketing mix.. Providing service for: 2 years