Tropical Smoothie Café has announced it has named Dina Mitchell, area developer of Tropical Smoothie Café for Nevada, as the recipient of its 2009 National Area Developer of the Year Award.
Mitchell received the honor for being the most effective area developer in growing the Tropical Smoothie Café brand. The award recognizes her superior performance in the Nevada market for maintaining franchisee relationships, generating new store development and providing excellent mentoring, training and customer service.
"Dina joined Tropical Smoothie Café 10 years ago and built the Las Vegas market from scratch," said Jim Valentino, president and chief operating officer for the chain. "There were no Tropical Smoothie Café locations in Las Vegas when she began, and now there are 20. We are proud to have such a dynamic area developer on our team."
Building on her previous success, Mitchell has a new 24-hour location in development as well as a location near Nellis Air Force Base northeast of Las Vegas and four locations inside major casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.
She also has forged strong relationships with local charities and community groups and regularly supports Clark County (Nev.) Schools, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Coats for Kids, the Andre Agassi Foundation and many others. The Las Vegas Tropical Smoothie Café locations work aggressively to raise funds during the National Flip Flop Day philanthropic campaign. The annual summer event raises funds to send children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to Camp Sunshine, a retreat in Maine that provides respite, support, joy and hope to visitors.
The Las Vegas market also led the entire Tropical Smoothie Café system in same-store sales increases, rising 6.1 percent in 2009. The market also had the No. 1 store in sales for the entire Tropical Smoothie Café system and is a member of the chain's Million Dollar Club.
Mitchell now plans to take that same level of cooperation and enthusiasm into the other markets she leads in Los Angeles and Ventura County, Calif.
