0 nce their kids had grown Hanan
Faour and Dalal Turk, aka the
Tabbara sisters, began making silk
bridal flowers and fancy chocolate arrangements
– the type traditionally offered to
guests at births. “It started out as a hobby, as
favors for friends,” says Turk’s daughter
Reem Albanna. By word of mouth their reputation
grew and before long the hobby
developed into a small business. Their children
encouraged them to register the homebased
enterprise, Heart to Heart, in 1997.
Today business is growing by about 8% a
year, even though they’ve never advertised.
Well, that isn’t completely accurate. “Every
piece of chocolate that goes out of this store
is an advertisement,” says Albanna. The
chocolates, which are sealed with a sticker that
has the company’s name and phone number
printed on it, have gone far. Heart to Heart regularly
receives phone orders from Kuwait,
UAE, Switzerland, London and Paris.
Why the appeal? Big players in the field, like,
Paatchi and La Cigale, are more commercialized,
so their selection has standard designs. At
Heart to Heart all designs are unique. The
personal touch starts from the moment clients
enter the boutique. Customers enter a conference
area resembling an elegant living room,
where they explain what they’re looking for
while sipping coffee. Designs are suggested
based on the client’s preference and budget.
“We cater to all budget.5,” says Faour. A
piece of decorated chocolate starts at $2.
Elaborate designs can reach $20 apiece, in
rare cases $75. Likewise, the price of containers
varies tremendously. A small wicker
basket simply decorated costs $45. A genuine
wicker cradle bedecked with ribbons and
stuffed animals costs $120. Clients sometimes
bring in their own containers, which are then
decorated according to budgets.
Heart to Heart now caters to all occasions,
although chocolate arrangements for births
still constitute about 75% of business. The
company declined to reveal turnover, saying
only that profit margins are 10% to 15%.
Profits are reinvested, mostly into stock
