When Brittany Brown decided to open her own business, she didn't have any thoughts of it being anything other than an Emerald City Smoothie franchise. "I loved the smoothies, I loved working at one and I loved the way they were run," said Brown, who opened the Southwest Valley's first Emerald City at 9925 W. McDowell Road in Avondale. The shop, only the second in Arizona, is in the Gateway Crossing center on the southwest corner of 99th Avenue and McDowell. Brown most recently worked in the banking industry, but she previously managed an Emerald City Smoothie store in Kirkland, Wash. A native of Washington, Brown first made contact with Emerald City Smoothie as a customer. "The products are nutritious and really helped me lose weight," Brown said. Brown said she lost 35 pounds in preparing for her marriage a few years ago, thanks in large part to drinking the smoothies, a chilly concoction made up of fresh fruit, juice and nutritional supplements. The menu board at Emerald City offers a range of smoothies, some emphasizing weight loss, or muscletoning, while others may help energize the consumer. Some even help customers gain weight, Brown said. "Some of us do have a problem with not enough weight," Brown said with a laugh. Emerald City Smoothie chose its employees and managers carefully, and still does, Brown said. "They want upbeat, helpful people," Brown said. BRITTANY BROWN, proprietor of the Emerald City Smoothie in Avondale, pours a smoothie for a customer. Brown was first a customer, then an employee, and now owns her own franchise. The sunny disposition of the employees carries on up to the company's top management of the Mercer Island, Wash.-based company, which was founded in 1996. The stores originally were company-owned, but the company in the past few years decided to go the franchise route to expand. With 46 stores now, Emerald City Smoothie executives hope to expand to more than 300 locations by the end of 2008, spokeswoman Kelsey Dreyer said. Brown had moved to the Valley of the Sun and was working as a bank executive when she heard the news that Emerald City was going to begin franchising its business. For Brown, it wasn't a choice of one of any number of franchise companies. "I didn't have to think twice about whether I wanted to open one," Brown said of the Emerald City Smoothie store. A smooth market The smoothie business is a rapidly growing food segment, not just in those sold at stand-alone stores such as Emerald City Smoothie. Jamba Juice, Maui Wowi and Planet Smoothie are among some of the other big players in the market. Restaurants and other specialty food stores, ranging from Baskin Robbins to Dunkin Donuts are tapping into the market. Food processors such as Naked Juice, Odwalla and Ocean Spray also offer ready-made smoothies sold in grocery stores and other retail locations. The market has grown 80 percent since 2002, totaling about $2 billion in sales in 2006, a report from Mintel International Group, a market research firm, shows. Among the crowded field, Emerald City Smoothie looks to emerge from the pack as one of the top makers of smoothies, said David Gross of Juice Bar Solutions, a Novato, Calif., company that supplies nutritional supplements to many smoothie makers and also serves as a consultant to the industry. Juice Bar Solutions at one time supplied supplements to Emerald City, but doesn't any longer. Gross nonetheless admires how Emerald City Smoothie runs its business. "There's no technical definition of what a smoothie is," Gross said. Some smoothies sold at fast-food restaurants and convenience stores are loaded with calories and fat and have little if any nutritional value. Emerald City Smoothie, by contrast, has a nutritionist on staff who has helped develop its own line of nutritional supplements, Gross said. "Emerald City's smoothies taste great, but 99 percent of them are sold with nutritional supplements," Gross said. "They've done research and found that the majority of their customers want a 'functional smoothie,' one that is nutritious as well as good-tasting. They're selling functionality, they're selling a huge health benefit to their customers, and that pride in what they're doing shows in their management and their employees." Franchise Direct, a Web site that reports on franchise opportunities, reports that Emerald City Smoothie requires a potential franchisee to have minimum liquid capital of $50,000, a net worth of at least $250,000 and to make a total investment in the range of $50,000 to $75,000. Juice Zone, by contrast, requires an initial franchise fee of $20,000, minimum liquid capital of $75,000, and a total investment ranging from $100,000 to $250,000, Franchise Direct reports. In another food segment, Subway, the most franchised company in the world, requires a $15,000 up-front franchise fee, and somewhere between $92,000 and nearly $223,000 for a total investment for one of its sandwich shops. Franchise Direct reports that ECS requires minimum liquid capital of $50,000, net worth of $250,000 and a total investment in the range of $50,000 to $75,000. At Emerald City Smoothie, the smoothies cost between $3.95 and $4.95 for a 24-ounce drink. Most cost $4.25. To the uninitiated, that may seem like a lot of money for a cold drink in a cup, Brown said, except that it's not a drink. "It really is a meal replacement," Brown said. "It tastes like a treat, but they're getting all the vitamins and nutrition there in one cup. It's hard to find a nutritious meal for that amount of money." The nutrition angle is what will keep Emerald City Smoothie growing, Gross said. "They're really particular about what goes into their smoothies and, as long as they keep on that track, I think they're going to be really successful," Gross said. For more information on Emerald City Smoothie, visit www.emeraldcitysmoothie.com.
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