In a second-quarter update, Smoothie King announced 34 new store commitments and 18 new store openings including a store opened by rapper 2 Chainz inside the Atlanta State Farm Arena.
The Dallas-based smoothie chain is opening locations in the Georgia, Texas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Florida, New York, Kentucky, Colorado, and Wisconsin markets, with about two-thirds of store commitments coming from current franchisees. Among these new openings, Smoothie King is entering the markets of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Toledo, Ohio, for the first time, with six units slated to open in Grand Rapids and five stores scheduled to open in the Toledo market.
After the opening inside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Smoothie King’s next nontraditional location will be in Terminal A at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which is scheduled to open later this week.
“We are pleased with the continued growth of our development pipeline, and our reporting this quarter exemplifies the strategic plan to extend the Smoothie King market reach and bring our product to new guests around the country,” Chris Bremer, Smoothie King chief development officer, said in a statement.
Smoothie King also launched a new beverage category, and is offering beverages over ice for the first time. SK Refreshers debuted on menus nationally in May and are available in pineapple mango and strawberry guava flavors with lemonade versions available.
With these new additions, Smoothie King joins the fray as non-alcoholic and non-coffee iced beverages are trending right now. Multiple brands like Starbucks, Dutch Bros, and McDonald’s (through CosMc’s) have introduced colorful refresher-style drinks, slushies, and boba-topped iced beverages.
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