Can being an original be enough to turn heads these days?
Irvine-based Juice It Up will find out as the company enters its 25th year in business under new ownership and a brand refresh.
Last year, a partnership among Dover Shores Capital LLC, Britt Private Capital LLC and Jupiter Holdings went in as SJB Brands LLC to acquire the chain, which had $33.3 million in 2018 sales, for an undisclosed sum from former owner and CEO Frank Easterbrook.
The new ownership team has spent much of the time since the deal’s close bolstering the firm’s infrastructure with new hires such as Director of Marketing Natalie Eaglin, new store designs, and an updated menu.
The company is still in the process of tweaking a new mobile app that launched at the beginning of this year; mobile ordering and a redone website are set to debut in the first quarter of next year.
Juice It Up President and CEO Chris Braun said, with all those factors still in play, the company will turn its focus next year to store remodels and growth throughout the state, mostly through franchised locations.
“We have what we believe is the right combination of assets and store designs to really propel the brand into opening a lot more stores,” the CEO said.
Braun and his team are currently estimating double-digit store growth for the business, tempering that by saying, “We want to take on healthy store growth with good franchisees, high-traffic locations and we want to make sure that we have that combination right as opposed to just opening doors.”
Juice It Up currently has about 83 locations, including 16 in Orange County.
Innovation Ongoing
With all the change, there’s plenty to communicate to the market.
Braun cited traditional media in the vein of print and radio as being opportunities to pair with digital marketing and the ability to bolster personalization.
Innovating on the product side will be the focus to keep ahead of the competitive set as new entrants join the landscape and existing concepts tap into new channels, such as grocery stores, for growth, Braun said.
“A lot has changed and a lot is changing as we speak,” Braun said. “The consumer base is expecting things to be extremely convenient, extremely fast. [Consumers are] aligning with brands that they believe in. They want to be part of a brand that is forward thinking that’s taking advantage of everything from the technology to the science aspect of what they’re eating.”
