Settled Out-of-Court Stake your mall cafe claim away from the food court.

David and Camille Rutkauskas, 40 and 34, respectively, havecreated a franchise any mallgoer can appreciate: Camille'sSidewalk Café, which offers a tiny oasis for tired, hungryshoppers. Their idea sets them apart, literally--the cafe offerssandwiches, smoothies, salads, wraps and coffee drinks in anenclosed space away from the packed, noisy, fried-food-dominatedfood courts.

The couple opened the first Camille's Sidewalk Café inthe Woodland Hills Mall near Tulsa, Oklahoma, in October 1996 andbegan franchising three years later. The company now franchisesboth mall-based cafes and larger, inline locations.

Before they started Camille's Sidewalk Café, theRutkauskases owned a deli and a sportswear chain. They neverconsidered being franchisors, however, until the cafe came along."The concept was tailor-made for franchising," Davidexplains. "It's very efficient, and we felt the system wedeveloped could be easily duplicated."