Seattle Smoothie Franchise Expands In Utah

A Seattle smoothie concept that bills itself as a "meal replacement" beverage is expanding in Utah with the opening of its fourth location in American Fork.

Emerald City Smoothie, a Mercer Island-based fresh fruit-based smoothie franchise chain that entered the Beehive state in 2007, opened its first Utah County location at the Main Street Plaza in American Fork on Thursday. The 1,200-square-foot store at 51 Northwest State Road has 13 workers.

Bill Conley, a Seattle native who moved to Alpine two years ago to raise his family in the LDS faith, plans to open his second Emerald City Smoothie store in Lehi.

The store opens this summer at Center Pointe, a new Lehi shopping center on the southeast corner of State Road 92 and 1200 East that is anchored by Smith's Marketplace. Hiring for up to 13 workers will start three weeks before Aug. 1.

Those are part of Conley's plan to add up to six franchise stores in Utah and Salt Lake counties over the next two years. It includes possible locations in Provo and Orem by next year.

"My wife and I are extremely interested in health and fitness. We are avid supporters of Emerald City in Seattle and felt it important to bring this concept to Utah," he said. "What makes this company different is its recipes, which typically have less sugar and calories, and more protein. We also state the amount of saturated fat, protein and calorie content for each of our smoothies on the menu board, which none of our competitors do." The store also offers health products such as vitamins and supplements, protein and power bars, weight loss products and snacks, teas and energy drinks.

Creating jobs for teenagers, who are having an especially hard time getting employed in this economy, is another motivation, Conley said.

"For the American Fork store, I had 120 applicants for 13 jobs," he said.

Starting a franchise business in a recession may be tough, but Conley is banking on a young and health-conscious demographic in Utah and the strength of his locations, which tend to be near gyms, high schools or other high-traffic areas.

"The economy is the biggest challenge, and disposable income is definitely a big challenge," he said. "But I'm confident the economy will eventually recover. Plus, it's a shopping mecca here in American Fork. We're near Target, Costco and Home Depot. And when we open in Provo and Orem, we'll be near BYU and UVU." Fortunately for Conley, getting financing to start his first two stores wasn't too difficult despite the current tight credit markets, in part because of income from his other senior housing condo development business, Bradford Development in Mankato, Minn.

"I didn't have problems getting a $250,000 home equity line of financing to start the American Fork and Lehi stores, because of income from my other business, and the equity in my home. Plus, home equity lines tend to be cheaper than bank loans," he said.

But the two stores will have to be viable in order for Conley to obtain a $200,000 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration to finance the rest of his expansion plan. That includes expanding his smoothie catering business to clubs, sports teams, offices and schools.

Emerald City Smoothie, which has 60-plus franchise stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah and Idaho, opened its first three Utah franchise stores in Riverton, Murray and St. George in 2007. Those Utah stores aren't owned by Conley.

The company's entrance into the Utah market is part of a nationwide expansion that is focused on the West Coast.

"Over the next five years, I think we'll be seeing close to 20 to 25 stores in Utah. The demographics here are great -- lots of young people, and people in Utah care about health and fitness," Conley said.

Unlike the traditional smoothie concept, which uses ice cream, yogurt and fruit concentrates, Emerald City Smoothie products use fresh ingredients, including fresh fruits, pure juice and nutritional boosters for its 75-plus recipes.

"Our smoothies are creamy and silky because we use a very fine ice. Plus they are low in calories and high in protein," Conley said.

Most regular-sized Emerald City Smoothie products have 350 calories and two grams of fat or less.

Several supplemental options, such as fat burners, weight enhancers, muscle builders and immune boosters can be added to any smoothie to help customers reach their health and fitness goals. Prices range from $4 to $6.95.

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