John Agori and Mark Rein recently signed a 10-pack deal with Tropical Smoothie Cafe. John’s family will be helping with operations and his brother is running the day-to-day of the Cafe. If all goes according to plan, they hope to have all 10 Cafes open within 3 years. North Carolina should buckle up for the tropical goodness to come!
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Jeff Walker is a busy business professional, but owning a company with four retail locations in the Charleston market didn’t keep him from adding a Tropical Smoothie franchise to his portfolio. Drawn to the franchise opportunity because of its exceptional proven processes, he is excited to get started running his Cafes! He is looking to develop locations in Mt. Pleasant and has opened his first Cafe at 1787 Shell Ring Circle.
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Mike and Heather Philip are no strangers to franchising with multiple brands under their belt! With their success as multi-unit Franchise Owners, they have now opened a fourth Tropical Smoothie Cafe location in Bentonville, Arkansas at 805 South Walton Blvd., Suite 119. Not slowing down, they have already signed agreements for two additional Cafes in the near future. We love to see our Franchise Owners happy and growing with the brand.
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We are excited to welcome John Wickey on board as our newest Franchise Owner. Before choosing to franchise with Tropical Smoothie Cafe, John was a high school music teacher. With his recently opened Cafe, located at 1118 Woodruff Road, Suite B in Greenville, SC, he is focusing on aggressively marketing the location. Though he doesn’t have a background in restaurants, his time as a teacher will help him mentor and motivate his Cafe staff. As a Tropical Smoothie brand fan, he plans to have this be the first of many locations.
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In what has become an annual tradition, Tropical Smoothie Cafe will be in attendance at the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference (MUFC). In addition to the booth in the expo hall and an opening franchise reception appearance, a couple of Multi-Unit Franchise Owners will be in tow to speak at the sessions.
Emily Harrington joined Tropical Smoothie Cafe as a Franchise Owner after her roles as a Fixed Income Senior Vice President and successful owner of 42 burger franchise locations. She’ll be speaking at an April 25th session, Securing Capital – Lender Facts for $10M & Under Financing, about how to present yourself to lenders in a way that makes them confident to provide the capital you need for growth.
Glen Johnson is a current Tropical Smoothie Franchise Owner and Area Developer with previous experience as a Commercial Real Estate Broker and Developer. His company currently operates 25 Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations, with plans to have 50 operated Cafes by 2020. He’ll be speaking in the Monday session, Lease Negotiations & Renegotiations, covering how to deal effectively with landlords. Whether negotiating a new lease or re-upping, you’ll leave this session with helpful takeaways.
We’d love to see you in Vegas! Click here to register for the sessions, or call 800-897-6040 to schedule a meeting with us at MUFC.
Details: Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, April 23-26 at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.
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It’s been a banner quarter for Tropical Smoothie Cafe, reporting an 8% comps increase in January, followed by 6% in February. Take the $8.25 average ticket and $846,431 average gross sales* into account, and the results are even more impressive.
“Our focus on flavors and innovation has helped us to develop a menu that meets the demand of our customers. We offer them the healthier alternatives of fresh food and delicious smoothies they crave, which helps to fuel our success,” said Tropical Smoothie Cafe CEO, Mike Rotondo.
These rock star results are impressive outliers in an otherwise lackluster industry. A recent report published by Nation’s Restaurant News quantified the dwindling Q1 restaurant sales. After an uptick in January, same store sales fell 3.7%, with traffic declining 5%. Furthermore, February’s same store sales marked the lowest in the last four years.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe continues to stand out from the competition and is poised for yet another strong year of growth.
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There’s a lot that happens between being awarded a franchise and opening your doors to the public. While many franchise brands offer build-out and construction assistance to their Franchise Owners, Tropical Smoothie Cafe goes one step further by having a dedicated team to assist in Grand Opening and first year efforts. Meet Staci Lastinger.
Staci previously worked on an eCommerce team, helping with marketing and eMarketing, followed by a short stint in eCommerce recruiting. Next, she joined Tropical Smoothie Cafe where she worked on their National Brand Team before moving on to being an expert for all things Grand Openings.
Day-to-day, she stays in close communication with Franchise Owners and the PR team about all facets of Grand Opening promotions. Putting together a plan, working on paid media promotions, and handling the details of construction are all in a day’s work. She also helps Franchise Owners understand the importance of relationship building and being vested in their markets, telling them “Put your boots to the ground and prove your commitment to the community. Once people see that, they are more likely to visit your Cafe.”
In addition, she works closely with Franchise Owners throughout their first year to help ensure their success. In emerging markets where the brand has less than ten Cafes, Lastinger determines how to increase sales, plan coupon blitzes and product opportunities to hype and grow the brand. She loves talking to Franchise Owners and finds that building partnerships is key to her role. She relies on them as trade area experts and they rely on her as their marketing expert.
Her dedication pays off in the success of the Cafes she has worked with. The Fountain Valley Cafe stands out in particular. Set in an active neighborhood near a high school and a senior center, she worked tirelessly before the opening to introduce the brand to the market with everything from product samplings to talking with the Chamber of Commerce. “It was my proudest moment to see how successful they were on opening day,” she said.
“Tropical Smoothie Cafe is committed to helping our Franchise Owners be as successful as they can and I love being a part of that,” Lastinger said.
Rest assured that people like Staci and the rest of the stellar team will be your support as you start on the path to owning your own Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
Fountain Valley Grand Opening
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Mike Shattuck has spent 43+ years in the foodservice industry. Holding titles from consultant to President, he has worked with franchisor teams and has run international franchise operations. Wanting to focus more on leadership and team development, he turned to franchising. While starting his own concept would have provided the freedom from corporate America he was looking for, he believed in the power of a franchise system to drive the development of a brand.
Prioritizing great product, strong positioning, and a shared value system, Shattuck’s research and networking led him to the Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise opportunity. Further convinced by the brand’s economic success, leadership in the industry, and commitment to making their franchise partners successful, his validation only grew as he progressed through the franchise process.
With six locations now in development, Shattuck’s experience has been helpful throughout the process. “Having been a senior member of franchisor teams and running international franchised operations, I have perspective from both sides of the relationship. This, along with my extensive foodservice experience, will be a key contributor to the success of my Cafes. I can’t wait to hit the ground running when my doors open!”
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The Corbin family was just about to sign on the dotted line to begin franchising with another smoothie brand when they heard about Tropical Smoothie Cafe. In no time at all, they fell in love with the flavor, quality, culture, and values of Tropical Smoothie Cafe and opened their first cafe in Rocklin, California. Inspired by their late daughter who was passionate about health, they are pursuing this in her honor. Committed to following the franchise model and having best practices in place to provide the utmost hospitality to their customers and staff has set them up for success. We can’t wait to watch them grow!
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With a proven track record from owning his own business for 20+ years, Rick Stokes knows the makings of a successful company. After thoroughly investigating various franchises, he landed on Tropical Smoothie Cafe. He believes Tropical Smoothie Cafe offers an extremely sound franchise opportunity that fits perfectly with his future goals. Congratulations to him on the opening of his Cafe in Ortonville, MI!
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Before choosing to franchise with Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Bill Ruby and Greg Powell did a ton of due diligence. Their research and evaluation of the brand made them confident to move forward and sign a 6-pack. With their wide range of franchise and restaurant experience in tow, they opened their first Cafe in Simsonville, SC where they will be owner-operators. They will be hiring managers for the rest of their Cafes. Their understanding of and adherence to the franchise model has helped set them up for success and we are excited to help them continue to grow.
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Tropical Smoothie Cafe, the leading fast casual Cafe concept known for its better-for-you food and smoothies with a tropical twist, announced today that during the first quarter of 2017, it signed franchise agreements to open 30 restaurants, which will expand the brand’s presence in new and existing markets nationwide, including Idaho, South Carolina, Maryland,California and Arkansas. Tropical Smoothie Cafe also opened 30 new locations throughout the country, resulting in a total of 570 open restaurants at the end of the first quarter.
“2017 is a milestone year as we celebrate Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s 20th anniversary. This accomplishment has motivated us in all aspects of the business from franchise expansion, positive sales growth, and ongoing menu innovation,” said Mike Rotondo, CEO of Tropical Smoothie Cafe. “We’ve had a strong start to this year and I’m proud to say that more than half of the development agreements signed in Q1 are coming from existing franchisees. What’s even better is that this is familiar territory for us as this is the 3rd year in a row we are experiencing such tremendous growth from within the system.”
Additionally, on the heels of reporting comp sales exceeding 26 percent over the last three years at the end of 2016, the award-winning food and smoothie franchise closed out the first quarter with positive comp sales of 4 percent. According to MillerPulse, first quarter sales across the industry average -2.2% showing that Tropical Smoothie Cafe continues to outpace the competition.
“We’re experiencing tremendous momentum in this celebratory year and I look forward to working alongside the dedicated Tropical Smoothie Cafe team to build upon this success,” Rotondo added.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s success was further driven by its expanded array of offerings and ongoing product innovation. To raise the bar in its 20th anniversary year, Tropical Smoothie Cafe will continue to feature top performing limited time only food and smoothie items from the past as well as optimized versions of current fan favorites.
This year, the food and smoothie franchise plans to open over 100 restaurants nationwide and currently has franchise opportunities across the U.S. in markets such as Indianapolis, Nashville, Houston, Dallas, Cincinnati and Minneapolis, among others. By 2020, Tropical Smoothie Cafe plans to have 1,000 stores open across the U.S.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is looking to add qualified franchisees to its growing brand. Candidates should have business experience;$125,000 in liquid assets and a minimum net worth of $350,000; and an initial investment of between $220,770 and $525,400. The better-for-you food franchise currently boasts an average unit volume (AUV) of more than $662,000 — the highest in the company’s 20-year history — with the top 50 percent reporting an AUV of more than $846,000.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s aggressive franchise growth is backed by the entrepreneurs at the BIP Franchise Accelerator, a division of venture capital firm BIP Capital, which invested in the brand in 2010. BIP Capital has invested more than $250 million in emerging, high-growth brands across the franchising, software, and technology and consumer products industries. BIP Capital created the BIP Franchise Accelerator to leverage its leadership team’s deep franchise experience to help emerging brands accelerate their growth. In addition to Tropical Smoothie Cafe, the BIP Franchise Accelerator’s portfolio includes Tin Drum Asian Kitchen, which has grown to 11 locations in Georgia.
To read the original article, click here.
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Brothers James and Mark White, along with partner Mark Micelli are the proud owners of the newest Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Howell, Michigan. Having been in the restaurant industry as owner/operators for over a decade, the Whites & Micelli partnership joins the Tropical Smoothie Cafe family with in-depth experience. Excited to open their first cafe, the Whites will also be opening another Cafe in Commerce Twp, Michigan in late May.
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Raymond Howell is the owner-operator of the newest Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Sarasota, Florida. He and business partner, Andrew Howell are both experienced in franchising with ten locations in operation and the rights to five more in the Sarasota area. Their Cafe is located at 8605 Tamiami Trail #1. As they begin to open more locations, they’ll hire a manager to handle the day-to-day in the locations. We’re excited to have them both as a part of Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
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Having previously worked at a golf & beach resort and as the owner of a snow cone business, Adam Alfonso is keeping things Tropical as our newest Florida Franchise Owner. He has experience managing 60+ employees which will help him as the owner operator of the new Destin Cafe.
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As a Tropical Smoothie Cafe Franchise Owner, Glen Johnson is well on his way to building an empire. With 22 Cafes open and 20-30 more planned in the next five years, his commitment to the brand is evident. His path to success began in commercial real estate.
While working as a broker, Glen dreamed of making a positive impact in his small town. He considered opening a food franchise but was disappointed with the options–one unhealthy concept after another. That all changed when he visited a Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Amidst the buzzing blenders and the smoothie sippers, he fell in love with the positive energy of the brand and opened his first location soon after.
The Cafe was well received in his neighborhood, earning him regular high fives and earnest thank-yous from his customers. Offering delicious food items, in addition to their trademark smoothies, helped to set him apart from other smoothie franchise concepts and appealed to a wide variety of customers, helping all dayparts to be successful.
He soon began opening additional Cafes using his background in commercial real estate to understand the makings of a successful location. As he grew, he transitioned from owner-operator, being involved in the day-to-day of the Cafe, to assembling teams to run locations. Hiring was easier than expected with people wanting to work with the hip brand, and he soon became an expert at getting crews in place.
Five years later, Glen still loves the challenge of growing sales, recruiting people, and the reward of impacting peoples’ lives. Tropical Smoothie Cafe is committed to their Franchise Owners, and Glen has benefited from their hands-on training and coaching, as well as innovative offerings. Between the limited time offers and a mobile app to increase customer engagement, there is always something new happening.
While other food franchises scramble to update their menu to meet the demand for healthier alternatives, Tropical Smoothie Cafe leads the pack. “Everyone else is trying to be us and wants to be a healthier food franchise, but we already are,” Johnson said.
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MiChelle Parsons is extremely excited to open her first Cafe in Findlay, Ohio today. Joining the Tropical Smoothie Cafe family with an extensive business background, MiChelle brings in-depth familiarity with franchise operations. In the near future, Michelle will open her second Tropical Smoothie Cafe in the Fremont, Ohio area.
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Hicham Bazzi joins the Tropical Smoothie Cafe family with the opening of his first store in east Dearborn, MI. Born in Lebanon, Bazzi came to the United States as a seven-year-old refugee, and has lived in the Dearborn community every since. Having worked for Ford Motor Company over the last 25 years, Bazzi is overjoyed to open his own Tropical Smoothie Cafe in the place he calls home. Later this summer, Bazzi will open his second Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Taylor, Michigan.
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Extensive food and entertainment business experience brought James and Joretta Spafford to franchising but a passion for the brand led them to Tropical Smoothie Cafe. They are excited to open a location in Loxahatchee, Florida. Jim will be a hands on owner operator for at least the first 6 months at which time they plan to expand with additional locations.
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Father-Daughter Duo, Vanessa Boles and Paul Davis are the newest Tropical Smoothie Cafe owners in Shenandoah, Texas. Vanessa will be the primary operator, running the Cafe day-to-day. Paul has experience as an executive at a food brand and Vanessa has a marketing background. They are both excited to bring healthier options to the Shenandoah community and are committed to training and following the proven systems of Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s franchise system. They believe in the brand so much that they recently signed up for a 2nd Cafe as well.
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