Tropical Smoothie Café announces an all-time high average unit volume (AUV) of more than $578,000, while the top 50 percent of its cafes nationwide reported amounts exceeding $734,000.
“We are thrilled that in the last year our system’s AUV has grown by nearly 10 percent — an outstanding result of Tropical Smoothie Cafe introducing more fresh food featuring bold flavors and quality ingredients, and our franchisees’ hard work and passion for the brand,” says Mike Rotondo, CEO of Tropical Smoothie Café.
Franchisee Mike Tate spent more than 20 years as a sales representative in the pharmaceutical industry before his company, Merck, was acquired and layoffs were expected — giving him the unique opportunity to pursue a dream of owning his own business. He now owns a Tropical Smoothie Café in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I decided franchising would be a perfect career move because of my background in sales and working with people. I decided I’d really enjoy operating a restaurant and ultimately chose Tropical Smoothie Café because of its healthy menu items,” says Tate, whose Birmingham café exceeded $900,000 in sales last year. “Tropical Smoothie Café has developed a simple business model that allows its franchisees to keep development costs low, but still offer high-quality food and smoothies that help drive traffic and sales.”
Tropical Smoothie Café recently announced the signing of 51 franchise agreements and a same-store sales increase of 12.31 percent in the first quarter of 2015. The sandwich and smoothie franchise plans to exceed 500 stores nationwide and sign franchise agreements for an additional 150 new locations. By 2018, Tropical Smoothie Café plans to have 800 stores open across the U.S.
