TL;DR
Smoothie King CEO Wan Kim discusses the brand's turnaround under his leadership, with a significant increase in Average Unit Volume (AUV) and global expansion. The AUV has increased from $340,000 to $482,000 since Kim took over the company.
Smoothie King has seen an incredible turnaround since former South Korea franchisee Wan Kim took over the company, with a huge increase in AUV and global expansion headlining the brand’s forward momentum.
Kim and COO Tom O’Keefe recently sat down with Nation's Restaurant News to discuss the Smoothie King brand and some of the changes that have propelled the company’s growth.
“When I bought the company, the AUV was around $340,000. Now the AUV is around $482,000. We are looking close to a one-to-two ratio, and I think it’s becoming a very good opportunity for a lot of people,” Kim told NRN.
And in regard to the updates made to Smoothie King’s branding, O’Keefe told NRN, “We reinvigorated the brand. We kind of blew some air into the sails and there was a lot of natural traction that took hold because of that. We are a three-year-old startup, even though we had a 40-year head start.”
In this story
This story was originally published in 1851 Franchise on September 8, 2016. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
Read the full story at 1851 FranchiseLiked this? Get the week's franchise news, explained
- Sunday 8 AM ET weekly + a monthly deep dive
- Sections picked for the industries you follow
- Every claim linked to its source. Free.