Smoothie Company Juices Up Development Plans In The West

(Tuesday, February 07, 2006) - Juice It Up will begin developing corporate stores again after switching to a franchise-only business model five or six years ago. The 88-unit smoothie chain isn't abandoning franchising and is expanding into Nevada with three locations in Las Vegas, as well as an area development for Henderson. The concept is located in seven states, including Florida, New York and Tennessee, but will now focus its growth on western states through 2007. President Brandon Gough anticipates the chain breaking the 200-unit mark by then. Look for 50 new units this year, with six corporate stores in Northern California.

Juice It Up opened 35 corporate stores from 1995 to 2000, but sold the majority of them to franchisees as it moved into its second phase of brand development. The latest ramp-up phase will include opening corporate stores in new markets to be concept models. The unit design has been tweaked over the past few years, and an infrastructure has been built with a team of industry veterans including VP of Operations Steve Boud, formerly of Tropicana CoolBrands. The company opened 20 stores in 2005, and system-wide revenues pushed past the $20M mark. Seventy-five units are planned for 2007, with six more corporate stores. Texas is an immediate target.

Gough strives to keep the concept true to the healthy lifestyle and keep brand identity, while still expanding product offerings. But don't expect to see sandwiches or breakfast items on the menu anytime soon. Area developments up to five units and single-unit deals will continue to be the focus. A 1,000 s.f. to 2,000 s.f. unit costs between $188K and $250K to develop and has a $25K franchise fee with 6% royalties. The average check is $5.

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