What's Cooking? More Juice?

SACRAMENTO (Friday, March 24, 2006) - More juice? Juice It Up!, the Irvine-based fruit smoothie company, is adding 15 locations in the Sacramento area over the next 18 months.

The company has six locations here now. Two are in Elk Grove, two in Sacramento and one each in Antelope and El Dorado Hills. Those were all franchise locations. The next four will be company-owned. The first would open next month in Roseville at 916 Pleasant Grove Boulevard in Roseville; others are planned for Rocklin and Lincoln.

"We're definitely heading into Jamba (Juice) territory," said Brandon Gough, president of the company, which has a total of 88 locations. Juice It Up! opened its first location in Brea in 1995 and opened 35 shops in Southern California before it began franchising in 1998.

It's been in Greater Sacramento for three years. The company wants to jump-start operations by opening in growing markets in California. It plans to add 55 stores this year.

It typically takes about $190,000 to $250,000 to open a store, Gough said. The price stays low because there is no kitchen and most of the store consists of the counter where customers watch the "theater of having their own custom drink blended," he said.

The outfit uses fresh fruits and vegetables when available, and also uses flash-frozen fruit and berries for its blends.

Jamba Juice Co., based in San Francisco, is the leader in the juice shop category, with about 530 stores, more than 60 percent of them company-owned. There are 30 Jamba locations in Greater Sacramento alone, with five of them in Roseville.

Jamba Juice started as a shop in San Luis Obispo in 1990. It grew quickly. Last week, Jamba agreed to be acquired by Services Acquisition Corp. International (AMEX: SVI) in a $265 million cash deal. The buyer would change its name to Jamba Inc.

The sale was a way for the initial investors to cash out. For the 12 months ended Jan. 10, Jamba's revenue was $345 million. The company has seen annual growth of 20 percent for the past three fiscal years.

Greater Sacramento has also seen at least four Robeks Smoothies & Healthy Eats shops open in the past several years.

"There is a lot of room for growth in the category," Gough said. Typically a Juice It Up! shop runs 800 to 1,200 square feet, and has a staff of 10, about average for all the local players.

View all Juice It Up! Press Releases

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