The parent company of Irvine-based Juice It Up said it hired Laina Sullivan as its first vice president of business development, with duties to include franchising, site selection and lease negotiation.
Balboa Brands Inc. said Sullivan was most recently director of development for Irvine-based Yogurtland Franchising Inc. and has also worked for Penguin’s Place Frozen Yogurt.
Juice It Up noted Sullivan’s experience with traditional restaurant sites in shopping malls and with smaller, express-like restaurant locations, including those at airports and college campuses.
Balboa Brands Chief Executive Frank Easterbrook said Sullivan would be “instrumental in our growth plans.”
Juice It Up has 82 locations in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and said it signed an area development agreement with Beaverton, Oregon-based Juice 55, LLC to open three franchises near Portland, beginning in early 2015. Oregon is a new state for Juice It Up, which has said it wants to expand nationally.
