Back in 2016 when Smoothie King arrived in my hometown, it was the first time I ever heard of the franchise. At that time, Smoothie King had over 850 locations, but none of them were in the Pittsburgh area. The owner, Liz Szabo, realized that there was not a quality smoothie shop in the area and decided to bring this southern-based franchise to the North. In a local publication, she said, “I was driving around a few years ago looking for a smoothie when I realized they really didn’t have anything like that here. That little light bulb went off in my head and I thought, ‘The smoothie market is an untapped market’” (Gilbert). She saw an opportunity and believed that Smoothie King would be able to fill the void in the market.
The corporation’s headquarters were originally based in Metairie, Louisiana, and in 2018, they relocated to Dallas, Texas to take advantage of the large market in the flourishing metropolis. Smoothie King was seeking out an opportunity to grow from their roots in Louisiana. In 2018, the corporation planned to grow to over 1,000 locations and extend its network to the following areas: Dallas, Miami, Baltimore, Indianapolis, New York, Cincinnati, Denver, Phoenix, San Antonio, Chicago, Orlando, Austin, Washington D.C., Charlotte, Columbus, and Jacksonville (Kezar). The 1000th location milestone came on August 23, 2018 in Richardson, Texas. With the move to Dallas, network expansion, and menu changes all taking place in 2018, CEO Wan Kin said, “2018 [was] a big year in our evolution” (“Smoothie King Celebrates 1,000th Store Milestone in New Hometown”).
Although the corporation is growing nationwide, it certainly has strong roots in the South, especially in Louisiana. When I was in Louisiana this past summer, the first vendor I saw in the airport was Smoothie King, and that was the first of many locations I saw during my time there. Smoothie King stores seem to appear as frequently as Starbucks and other very popular food/drink stores. Also, the Smoothie King Center still exists in New Orleans and is home to the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. When I was there, I had to take advantage of the photo opportunity to share with my co-workers for a good laugh!
Fortunately, the Pittsburgh-based owner was ahead of the curve on bringing Smoothie King up North. With ongoing expansion efforts, I am looking forward to seeing if the business will become as popular in new markets as it has been in the South and if these markets will support many locations. Specifically in Pittsburgh, in addition to the Wexford location, there is also a location in an area called Bridgeville. Liz Szabo owns both of these locations, and a third location may be on the horizon. It would be neat to see a location in State College as the town is like a modified melting pot of Pittsburgh and Philly. By introducing the Philly crowd to Smoothie King in State College, I think the business could follow these customers back to Philly and make Smoothie King’s network vast across PA. Several “Pittsburgh things” such as Primanti Bros, Roots, and Sheetz have made it to State College, and I would like to see Smoothie King follow this trend as well.
If you are ever near a Smoothie King, whether you are on a trip or the franchise makes it to State College or your hometown, I hope this semester’s “Behind the Scenes of Smoothie King” blog has encouraged you to give it a try!
__________________________________________________________
Works Cited
Gilbert, Michael. “Smoothie King Finally Arrives in Pittsburgh.” Community Health, 14 July 2017, www.communityhealthmagazine.com/community/pennsylvania/community_college_ac/smoothie-king-finally-arrives-in-pittsburgh/article_5f559090-68b5-11e7-8e94-1bbb2e5649ea.html.
Kezar, Korri. “Smoothie King to Relocate Its Headquarters to North Texas This Summer.” Dallas Business Journal, 23 Apr. 2018, www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2018/04/23/smoothie-king-to-relocate-its-headquarters-to.html.
“Smoothie King Celebrates 1,000th Store Milestone in New Hometown.” Smoothie King, 24 Aug. 2018, www.smoothieking.com/news/smoothie-king-celebrates-1-000th-store-milestone-in-new-hometown.
I am from the Philly side of Pennsylvania, so I have never actually had a Smoothie King smoothie, but now it is definitely something I would like to try. I would love to see them open a Smoothie King in State College. Other than Jamba Juice, there really aren’t very many chains that sell mainly smoothies, so it would be great to see Smoothie King spread out more.
Before reading your blog posts, I had only ever heard of Smoothie King from the Pelicans Arena. But, after reading your blog, I would definitely be interested in trying one sometime. I know that there is one location very close to my friend’s house. So hopefully I’ll be able to try it sometime.
I have enjoyed reading your blogs about a job that clearly meant a lot to you, which is an awesome thing to find. With the continued expansion that you mention, I hope there can be a smoothie king near me sometime soon, likely in Harrisburg.