Smoothie King Franchises Inc., the smoothie and nutritional lifestyle center, announced it named Michael Bruno vice president of business development to help drive the brand’s expansion in new and existing markets across the U.S.
“We are thrilled to have Michael on board to lead our developments efforts as we plan to add more than 900 new franchised and corporate locations domestically over the next four years,” says Smoothie King Global CEO Wan Kim. “He has a proven track record of driving business growth, and we are confident that his extensive franchising background and ownership experience will help Smoothie King exceed our development goals.”
Bruno has nearly 20 years experience in both senior executive roles at global franchise companies such as Luxottica, Dunkin’ Brands, 1800Flowers.com, and as a multiunit franchisee with Dunkin’ Donuts and East of Chicago Pizza Company. Prior to joining Smoothie King, Bruno served as vice president of retail sales, operations, and franchise development for Fannie May Fine Chocolates, a division of 1800Flowers.com, where he oversaw a $69.5 million retail division that included 100 corporate stores and 45 franchised stores.
Smoothie King experienced strong growth last year with the signing of 93 single-unit and 10 area development franchise agreements and is on track to open over 100 new franchise and corporate locations in the U.S. this year. The brand recently reported same-store sales of about 7.2 percent for the first quarter of 2014.
Even with more than 500 locations in the U.S., the brand still has franchise opportunities available in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast regions. Smoothie King also continues to expand internationally through both master franchise and corporate stores in South Korea, Singapore, and the Cayman Islands, and is focusing on identifying partners in several key countries in Asia and the Middle East.
Smoothie King is actively recruiting multiunit franchisees to join the brand. Franchisees should possess a passion for the brand and be dedicated to serving the community. While restaurant experience is not required, the ideal candidate for the smoothie franchise should have an entrepreneurial spirit, as well as sales, marketing, restaurant, and/or retail experience. To fuel growth, Smoothie King will be exhibiting at the 2014 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in Las Vegas from April 23–25, 2014. Interested franchisees can visit booth No. 521 to learn more about the brand and speak with Smoothie King executives.
