Leading Smoothie Concept Inks Deal In Missouri To Develop Five New Restaurants

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Smoothie King Franchises, Inc., the premier smoothie and nutritional lifestyle center, announced today that it has signed a five-store development agreement for Missouri with a new franchisee. The smoothie chain will mark its entry into Columbia this November, with plans to develop additional locations throughout the state over the next five years.

Jackie Floyd, a first-time franchisee for the brand, will open the first Smoothie King location on 805 East Nifong Blvd. in Columbia. Additional locations are planned to open over the next five years in West Columbia, East Columbia, Downtown Columbia and Jefferson City.

"Smoothie King is growing rapidly across Missouri and we see ample opportunity to continue to develop the brand in markets such as Kansas City, Springfield, St. Joseph and Joplin," said Dan Hannah, vice president of business development for Smoothie King. "Over the next five years, we're aiming to have more than 50 stores open in the state and passionate franchisees like Jackie will help us not only grow our presence, but also bring hundreds of jobs to these communities."

Smoothie King currently has 21 locations in the state, including more than a dozen in the St. Louis area, with three additional stores planned to open in the market this year.

"We're excited to be part of the Smoothie King's key growth strategy to target core and emerging markets where there is an increasing demand for our products," Floyd said. "We think Columbia is the perfect place for our first location, and we look forward to catering to healthy lifestyles across the state of Missouri for years to come."

Even with more than 500 locations in the U.S., the brand still has extensive smoothie franchise opportunities across the country. Smoothie King has an aggressive growth strategy to add more than 900 new franchised and corporate stores domestically over the next four years and is currently targeting expansion in Tampa, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. Internationally, Smoothie King has plans to develop 500 new franchised and corporate locations in target markets such as Singapore, Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates over the next five years.

As part of its aggressive growth strategy, Smoothie King is targeting multi-unit owners and operators in the food and beverage or retail industry. To attract this audience, Smoothie King began offering reduced royalties and free equipment to franchisees that sign an area development agreement for a minimum of three stores. Through its reduced royalty incentive, franchisees will receive:

• In the first year of operation, a 50-percent reduction on their royalty fees, paying just 3 percent.
• In year two, franchisees will pay royalties of 4.5 percent.
• In year three, royalties are charged at the full rate of 6 percent.

Additionally, franchisees will receive an entire blender equipment package, which includes five Vita-Mix Quiet One^® blenders, for each of their first three stores.

To learn more about the benefits of owning a Smoothie King, or for more information, please visit www.smoothiekingfranchise.com or contact Natalie Johnson at [email protected]. For information about international franchise opportunities, please e-mail [email protected].

About Smoothie King Franchises Inc.
Smoothie King Franchises, Inc. is a privately held, New Orleans-area-based franchise company with 700 units worldwide. By creating each smoothie with a purpose, Smoothie King makes it simple and pleasurable for guests to achieve their individual health goals. The franchise also offers a number of healthy retail products, including sports beverages, energy bars, vitamin supplements and more.

Smoothie King was founded in 1973 by Steve Kuhnau, whose mission was to help others achieve better health in a tasty way. In 1989, Smoothie King became the first franchised smoothie bar/health food store in the U.S. and currently operates in 33 states, the Caymans, Singapore and the Republic of Korea. In 2014, Smoothie King was ranked No. 1 by Entrepreneur magazine in the juice bar category for the 20th year and No. 86 overall on the 2014 Franchise 500 list. In 2014, Smoothie King partnered with the New Orleans Pelicans to launch the Smoothie King Center, a multi-purpose indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Visit www.smoothieking.com or www.smoothiekingfranchise.com; engage on Facebook www.facebook.com/SmoothieKing; follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/smoothieking.

Media Contact:
Jessica Nunez
Fish Consulting
(954) 893-9150
[email protected]

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SOURCE Smoothie King Franchises, Inc.

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