The expansion comes with the sale of two new franchise territories in Phoenix and San Diego, according to Richard Dean, president of Squeeze Fresh Smoothies. The Arizona and California stores are part of a strategy that calls for the chain to grow to 300 stores by 2010, Dean says.
Under the Squeeze Fresh system, area directors provide franchise owners with support that includes real estate site selection and store construction. Once the store opens, franchise owners receive assistance with marketing strategies, as well as advice on operational matters.
The area director Phoenix is Christopher Erlandsen, who comments that the city and its surrounding areas "are exploding with growth." He explains that the chain's policy of choosing locally based area directors is designed to provide local knowledge to franchisees regarding the best store locations and other assistance.
The area director for San Diego, Paul Papacoulis, notes that the system also includes training in the smoothie industry. In the case of Squeeze Fresh, this includes training in its smoothie bar concept, which emphasizes fruit smoothies, squeezed-to-order juices and green teas.
The chain now has stores operating in Colorado, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Texas. It now operates in about a dozen locations after entering the franchise business in May.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.