Smoothie King opens for business in Dubai
Smoothie King opened is first Middle East location Thursday (Sept. 1), officially launching a plan for dozens of stores in the region. The company seeks to reach more than 1,000 locations worldwide by late 2017.
Smoothie King, based in Metairie, said the new store in Dubai’s BurJuman Shopping Destination is a key milestone in larger expansion plans. There are currently 800 Smoothie King locations globally.
Tom O’Keefe, chief operating officer for Smoothie King, said expanding to Dubai made sense for a number of reasons. It is an international hub. Most residents speak English, so the language barrier was low. The hot and humid climate is also ideal for selling frozen drinks.
“There were a lot of things that aligned and made sense for us,” O’Keefe said.
Smoothie King plans Middle East expansion
Smoothie King will add the Middle East to its global footprint in coming years, starting multiple locations in Dubai, the company said Thursday (July 9).
Smoothie King has partnered with Al Ghurair Retail to enter the Middle East. Al Ghurair has a presence in more than 20 countries, with businesses in food and commodities, financial services, real estate and other sectors.
Al Ghurair plans to open 45 Smoothie King stores over the next five years, starting in the United Arab Emirates. It is also eyeing locations in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
O’Keefe said Al Ghurair has existing infrastructure and is targeting smaller locations in shopping malls, factors that should cut down on the time it takes to open shops.
Al Ghurair has signed a lease for a second Smoothie King location at Dubai Mall. O’Keefe said the location will be open by mid-2017, if not later this year.
Up until now, most of Smoothie King’s global growth has centered on Asia, where CEO Wan Kim grew the market for blended fruit smoothies when he was the South Korea franchisee. Kim, a Boston University graduate, purchased the company in July 2012. He has since announced plans to open more than 1,000 stores in the U.S. and internationally by the end of 2017.
Davis Jaeger, the Smoothie King food scientist who formulated the king cake smoothie (Photo by Doug MacCash, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) In addition to the Middle East, the company looks to boost its presence in Asia, including Japan, China, India and the Philippines. Australia and Brazil are also in its sights.
Late last year, Kim sold his ownership stake in the 105 Smoothie King shops he opened in South Korea to Shinsegae Food. Shinsegae announced plans to bring the brand to Vietnam next.
O’Keefe said the key in each of these markets is finding the right partner to bring the brand to more people.
“There’s still a lot of room for growth in the Pacific Rim,” O’Keefe said.
