Red Mango awarded its first franchise agreement in Denver as part of an expansion plan to add more than 20 locations across several franchisees in the region over the next three to five years. They will be locally owned and operated.

Dayle Revious, an on-air personality with a local Denver television station, and her business partners Michele Melnick and Carrie Goff, signed a single-store agreement and will open the first Red Mango in the spring of 2010.

“It’s a very healthy product that is attractive to a lot of people,” Revious says. “And Colorado in general is an ideal market for Red Mango because people really value their health and their bodies.” In a recent study, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation named Colorado the fittest state in the country.

Goff will act as the store’s general manager and has extensive experience in restaurant operations, including ventures with fast food retail chains and luxury dining establishments. Additionally, Goff handled ground-floor operations and oversaw more than 400 employees to launch a national restaurant chain in New York.

“Denver offers the perfect customer base for Red Mango’s brand promise to deliver health, taste, and style,” says James Franks, Red Mango vice president of franchising. “We serve a product that not only tastes great but is good for you, too. And we see a huge opportunity to bring that to Denver and throughout Colorado where healthy food options are embraced.”

Red Mango executives examined the market first-hand to support aggressive expansion. After traveling to Denver to scout commercial locations, market conditions prompted the company to make Denver a high priority for faster development. The company is currently welcoming details from local experts to identify premium commercial sites for franchise development.

Red Mango launched a national franchise program in 2009 to answer growing consumer demand for a healthy food option that has resulted in some 40 franchise signings with a commitment of 209 new locations to-date. The popularity of the brand’s signature tart frozen yogurt, along with the innovations and support of a seasoned management team, have put the company on track to reach as many as 550 locations across the country in five years.