Smoothie King Franchises Inc. has signed a deal that calls for new 45 units in the Middle East, reigniting the company’s development abroad.
Covington, La.-based Smoothie King, which has 730 units worldwide, expects to open the first Middle East locations by the fall in the United Arab Emirates under the development agreement with Al Ghurair Retail LLC of Dubai.
“It’s our first foray back into the international market,” said Dan Hannah, Smoothie King’s vice president of international, in an interview Monday with Nation’s Restaurant News.
The company had stepped away from global expansion for several years. “We’re currently in South Korea, Singapore and the Cayman Islands, and we’ve been there a couple of years,” Hannah said.
Smoothie King is also quietly expanding on a new prototype stand-alone unit in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and its headquarters in the New Orleans, La., region, he said.
Hannah said Al Ghurair Retail, a division of Al Ghurair Investments, plans to build its Smoothie King units over the next five years in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, which include the Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“It’s fun to bring another brand into the Middle East,” said Hannah, who earlier worked in the region with Pizzeria Uno, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and TGI Fridays.
“American-brand acceptance continues to be robust,” he said. “The issue you face in the GCC states is there is an over-supply of seats. Our concept is more of a grab-and-go enjoyment, which means we’ll likely have a good reception.”
Ghurair has a presence in many malls already with its Boux Avenue Lingerie, Morgandetoi French clothing and Prenatal brands, Hannah said, “which gives us a leg up in leasing. It’s important to be partnered with a group that can demand space in the malls.” Ghurair is also involved in financial services, food and commodities, construction, education, prime technologies, printing and real estate.
“I am thrilled to introduce Smoothie King as our first-ever food and beverage brand and a meaningful new addition to Al Ghurair Retail’s rapidly expanding portfolio of companies in the UAE,” said Laurent Cabioch, Al Ghurair’s general manager for retail, in a statement. “Al Ghurair Retail has seen the increasing demand for healthy food and beverage products for those on the go, and Smoothie King will meet this demand as we take the concept from Dubai into the rest of the GCC.”
Meanwhile, Smoothie King has opened two new stand-alone prototype stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“We’ve opened two variations on the prototype,” Hannah said. The two new units are similar, with a Dallas location covering 1,050 square feet and the Arlington, Texas unit at 1,500 square feet. They have drive-thrus and limited seating.
Hannah said a franchisee is building a similar store in Metairie, La.
Privately held Smoothie King was founded in 1973 and has units in 33 states as well as the three nations abroad.
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