Young Guns

Entrepreneurs: Julie Poteet, 28;Craig Poteet, 29
Company/Description: Willowbee & Kent Travel Co. is a combination travel agency and travel retail "superstore."
Based: Boston
Started: December 1997
1998 Sales: $1.2 million
1999 Projections: $3.3 million

Uncharted territory: "We're singular in the breadth of product we provide," says Craig of the couple's "value-added travel resource," which employs state-of-the-art technology and offers everything from ticketing and travel books to adventure wear and travel accessories under one roof.

Taking wing: After college, the Poteets spent five years researching their concept and attending travel conventions and luggage trade shows. Finally, Craig left his job as a manager at Boston's Logan International Airport, and he and Julie made the entrepreneurial leap, securing a site in Boston's upscale Back Bay.

Success by design: Says Craig, "Our goal was to make a store that was visually exciting and unique"--a task made much easier when they hired Retail Design Group (known for helping to design such retail stores as Eddie Bauer, Limited and Victoria's Secret). The firm, which rarely deals with one-store entities, was impressed by the Poteets' vision to bring an assortment of travel-related products together in one environment, and created the cutting-edge design that turned an aging building that formerly housed a bank into a one-of-a-kind travel-planning store.

Virtually unheard of: Willowbee & Kent clients enjoy the romance of travel before they've even finalized their plans, perusing one of hundreds of travel books over a cup of espresso or using the interactive kiosks to take a virtual trip to almost anywhere in the world. The Travel Gateway, a stunning two-story multimedia center with a circular screen, sets the mood. Clients can view real-time video of hotels and cruise ships while consulting with travel agents to create dream vacations.

Flight plan: Additional locations in the New England area and New York are in the works. The couple's next goal? Now that their business is flying high, they've committed to making time in their busy entrepreneurial schedules for celebrating their wedding anniversary in a different country every year.

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This article was originally published in the April 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Young Guns.