Nearly 1,000 Smoothie King corporate team members, partner vendors and franchisees from all over the globe gathered in New Orleans this past weekend to discuss future plans for the leading smoothie franchise company. During this conference, sales statistics and new developments were shared, all of which support continued exponential growth of the company.
Among these announcements:
- Q1 & Q2 Sales Growth. Same-store sales statistics were presented, showing significant growth during the first half of 2014 compared to the same timeframe last year. Same-store sales jumped 7.16 percent in the first quarter compared to last year and increased to an even stronger 9.79 percent in the second quarter of 2014.
- Corporate CFO Welcomed. Smoothie King welcomed Richard Peabody as CFO of the company. Peabody’s experience includes more than 25 years of strategic planning, franchise management, real estate site selection, budget forecasting, and technology oversight. Prior to joining Smoothie King, Peabody worked for IFCB Holding Corporation as Senior Vice President and CFO for the Corner Bakery Café and Il Fornaio brands. He has also held leadership positions with Taco Bueno Restaurants, L.P., Romacorp, Inc., Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc./Rally’s Hamburgers, Inc., and Black-Eyed Pea Management Corp.
- New Smoothie King Van Revealed. With a special appearance by Aaron Kaufmann of Gas Monkey Garage, Smoothie King revealed a brand new design for the interactive company van, which will be touring the United States beginning this fall. The design was a collaborative effort between 360 Wraps, Gas Monkey Garage and Smoothie King.
“This year’s conference broke attendance record books. More than 50% more franchisees attended, learning important brand information and participating in valuable break outs designed to help their business grow,” said Wan Kim, owner and CEO of Smoothie King. “There was a great energy and excitement surrounding this conference, as Smoothie King continues to grow and evolve focused on smoothies with a purpose.”
Smoothie King Franchises, Inc. is a privately held, New Orleans-area-based franchise company with more than 690 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 21st year and No. 86 overall on the 2014 Franchise 500 list. Visit www.smoothieking.com or www.smoothiekingfranchise.com; engage on Facebook www.facebook.com/SmoothieKing; follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/smoothieking.
