Juice Money
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With its gray skies and soggy weather, Chicago wouldn’t seem as welcoming a locale for juice bars as sunny California. But Kirk Perron, founder of Jamba Juice, hopes the city will fall hard for what he incessantly refers to as the “healthful alternative.” In just ten years this west-coast chain of juice and smoothie bars has become the industry leader, with 270 outlets and combined annual revenue of about $100 million, but until now it’s never opened a store any farther east than Denver. On Wednesday, Jamba Juice debuted its first Chicago location at the corner of Clark and Diversey, and at least four more are expected within the next year: at State and Randolph; in the shopping atrium at the Chicago & North Western station; near suburban Woodfield Mall; and at one more site yet to be chosen. Michael Connolly, a Minneapolis franchiser previously associated with Wendy’s and Chili’s, is bankrolling Jamba Juice’s expansion into the midwest; he expects to open between 35 and 50 outlets in Chicago before the market is saturated. “The health food trend has been gradual but steady,” says Connolly. “I think people are looking for an opportunity to have a healthy break.”
Yet Perron and his executives don’t know for sure whether the heartland will take to Jamba Juice as eagerly as patrons in the west. Two years ago the company opened a bar in New Haven, Connecticut, in a Barnes & Noble near the Yale University campus, but the experiment failed earlier this year. “It was not a good partnership,” admits Perron. Over the past year the company has introduced soups and toasted health breads to help buttress sales when weather or other factors might reduce people’s thirst. At the moment juices and smoothies come only in large sizes–24 and 32 ounces–which is part of the company’s campaign to position the drinks as a “healthful alternative” to a meal rather than just a snack. Adds Connolly, “We’re trying to take it from being just a juice bar company to more of a wellness concept.”
