Juice It Up! Gains Notice In Smoothie Industry

IRVINE, CALIF (Monday, January 30, 2006) - Customers flock to Juice It Up! smoothie and juice bars for their delectable smoothies, concocted within vibrant, energy-infused surroundings, replete with the sound of blazing blenders and the aroma of fresh-squeezed juices.

But having just celebrated its 10th birthday in 2005, Juice It Up! is proving equally tantalizing with its behind-the-scenes business acumen that has the 88-store franchised chain already positioned to have its best year ever in 2006 with plans to open 55 new locations, the most in its history. It comes on the heels of Juice It Up! increasing its systemwide sales by 42 percent in 2005 to $19.1 million. Same-store sales improved 12 percent over 2004.

Juice It Up! specializes in the "Southern California style" juice bar and has positioned itself among the top three leaders in the smoothie industry with its blended-to-order fresh- fruit smoothies, fresh-squeezed juices and other beverages served in a relaxed, family-friendly environment. Locations are in California, Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Washington and New York. Growth in 2006 will be primarily in northern California and Arizona along with Nevada.

The chain has quietly blossomed since co-founder Larry Sidoti developed the original recipes in the kitchen of his Southern California condo. In March 2004 a new store design debuted featuring a unique fusion of bold colors and materials, accompanied by a new branding campaign that further promoted Juice It Up's energized atmosphere and healthy products. The new stores have a modern, motion-driven design incorporating concentric circles, curved counters and display space.

But that's only part of the puzzle. Two new products have been a hit with customers. In 2001, the Brazilian Blends smoothie line was introduced featuring unique tropical fruits from the Brazilian Amazon. It was followed in 2005 with Healthy Way juices, a line of 100 percent fresh-squeezed fruit and vegetable juices.

In addition, a new Corporate Training Center was opened in 2005 within Juice It Up's headquarters in Irvine, Calif., featuring a fully operational store model for training of new franchisees. The business development team, headed by Sidoti, negotiates every lease for new franchisees and relies on its network of relationships with prominent developers to secure 90 percent of the sites for Juice It! Up stores.

Not only is Juice It Up! growing in terms of store openings, but its corporate support staff has ballooned as well. Three years ago, Juice It Up's corporate staff consisted of four employees. Today, there are close to 20.

"What separates us is our ability to move quickly," said Sidoti, Juice It Up's vice president of business development. "It's our ability to make decisions without bureaucracy. The level of support we give our franchisees is critical."

Juice It Up! opened its first 800-square-foot store in a strip shopping center in Brea, Calif., in 1995. Within the first year, two more locations were opened and all were successful within a few months. Sidoti - who was 31 years old at the time and financed the launch with his savings, credit cards and seed money from friends – never considered the option that he might not succeed.

"We were guerilla marketers," he said. "We did whatever it took to educate people about smoothies and get them into our stores. When you have everything on the line, you tend to go beyond the normal scope of what's required."

After it had grown to 35 stores in Southern California, Juice It Up! began franchising in 1998, about the same time that it caught the attention of Frank Easterbrook, now the company's CEO and sole owner since 2001.

A former senior executive with M&M/Mars, Inc. and Nestle, Easterbrook had been CEO and owner of Horizon Surgical, Inc., from 1990 to 1997, a company that manufactured and held three U.S. patents for an implant medical device. After the company was acquired in 1997, Easterbrook remained to oversee the transition and relocated to Raleigh/Durham, N.C., where he met a Juice It Up! licensee and became intrigued with the company. What began as a small investment, eventually led to Easterbrook taking over the reins of Juice It Up! in 2001.

"I saw it as a "better for you" product," Easterbrook said. "Having been in the health and medical industry and working closely with surgeons and cardiologists, I saw firsthand the results from poor eating habits. People wouldn't get themselves into those situations if they were drinking smoothies instead of eating fast food."

Juice It Up! smoothies have consistently been voted "best tasting" in blind taste tests conducted by third party organizations, when compared to the top smoothie and juice bar retainers. Every Juice It Up! smoothie contains up to five servings of fruit blended with proprietary fruit juice blends along with custom yogurts and sherbets.

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