News

Smoothie King to open 100 domestic locations in 2014

April 22, 2014

Smoothie King announced today that it has named Michael Bruno as VP of Business Development to help drive the brand's expansion in new and existing markets across the U.S.

"We are thrilled to have Michael on board to lead our development efforts as we plan to add more than 900 new franchised and corporate locations domestically over the next four years," said Smoothie King Global CEO Wan Kim. "He has a proven track record of driving business growth and we are confident that his extensive franchising background and ownership experience will help Smoothie King exceed our development goals."

Bruno has nearly 20 years experience in both senior executive roles at global franchise companies such as Luxottica, Dunkin' Brands, 1800Flowers.com, and as a multi-unit franchisee with Dunkin' Donuts and East of Chicago Pizza Company. Prior to joining Smoothie King, Bruno served as vice president of retail sales, operations and franchise development for Fannie May Fine Chocolates, a division of 1800Flowers.com, where he oversaw a $69.5 million retail division that included 100 corporate stores and 45 franchised stores.

Smoothie King experienced strong growth last year with the signing of 93 single-unit and 10 area development franchise agreements and is on track to open more than 100 new franchise and corporate locations in the U.S. this year, according to a company press release. The brand recently reported same-store sales of approximately 7.2 percent for the first quarter of 2014.

Even with more than 500 locations in the U.S., the brand still has extensive smoothie franchise opportunities available in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest and Northeast regions. Smoothie King also continues to expand internationally through both master franchise and corporate stores in South Korea, Singapore and the Cayman Islands, and is focusing on identifying partners in several key countries in Asia and the Middle East, according to the release.