News

Smoothie King posts strong Q2 results

August 1, 2014

Smoothie King Franchises Inc., reported 9.79 percent same-store sales growth in Q2 2014.

Within the last six months, the company has also opened 21 new locations across the U.S., bringing its total number of stores to 690 worldwide with plans to open an additional 55 by the end of 2014.

"While much of the foodservice industry experienced decreased traffic and sales earlier this year because of severe winter weather, Smoothie King remained ahead of the competition and continued that momentum into the second quarter with positive same-store sales and aggressive franchise development," said Smoothie King Global CEO Wan Kim in a company press release. "Smoothie King's continued success is credited to our strong operators who are committed to providing an outstanding in-store experience year round and our active, healthy fans that continuously include Smoothie King as part of their daily lifestyle."

Traffic and sales in the second quarter were driven by the success of new products, according to a company press release. New products included Veggie Blends, which are now third in company smoothie sales, and Greek Yogurt Smoothies featuring Chobani Veggie Blends, which are now seventh in smoothie sales.

In addition to the recent store openings in 2014, Smoothie King has signed 27 franchise agreements to develop 44 locations in markets such as Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Texas. The company hopes to add more than 900 new franchised and corporate stores domestically over the next four years and is currently targeting expansion in Tampa, Fla., 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, Vietnam, 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 multiunit 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.