Smoothie King Franchises, a privately held New Orleans-area-based franchise company and a smoothie bar and nutritional lifestyle center, is eyeing Jacksonville, Florida region expansion through franchise route.The smoothie chain, which currently operates seven outlets in the metro area of Florida, plans to open an additional 10 outlets over the next three years.
Initially, over the next 18 months, the chain intends to open 2-3 stores in Jacksonville region. These stores will be owned and operated by Smoothie King's multi unit franchisee owner Jason Luther.
Luther, presently, operates five Smoothie King outlets in Jacksonville.
Smoothie King global CEO Wan Kim said that the company's aggressive expansion is driven by its consumer demand.
"Our guests have reached out through social media channels asking for more locations across the metro area, so they can have easier access to the products they use as part of their daily lifestyle, " Kim added.
The chain is looking to add 1,000 new franchised and corporate locations domestically over the next five years.
Apart from domestic expansion, the chain is also looking to open outlets in overseas markets, including Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, with 50 new stores planned in South Korea and 10 in Singapore in 2013.
Smoothie King Franchises offers fresh-blended smoothie and healthy retail products, including sports beverages, energy bars, healthy snacks, vitamin supplements, herbs, minerals and other sports nutrition products.
Smoothie King currently has more than 600 outlets operating in 32 states, the Caymans, Singapore and the Republic of Korea.
