Their smoothies runneth over: Robeks Corp. has opened five stores since the beginning of the year, with four of them in the L.A. area.
The L.A. locations are on Hill Street in downtown, Chatsworth, Valencia and Bellflower. The fifth site is in Homestead, Fla.
Since 2006, the Manhattan Beach-based smoothie chain has been on a large-scale growth spurt, nearly doubling the number of its stores in two years to about 138 stores. Plans are in place to open 500 stores in the next four years through franchising. Only one of the chain’s stores is company owned.
Robeks is betting on the notion that smoothies are gaining ground as a healthy alternative to fast food, said Sheri Miksa, the chief executive of the company.
“The smoothie category is growing at a pace of about 10 percent a year whereas fast food growth has been in the single digits,” Miksa said. “As consumers focus on health and wellness, Robeks is in a great position to offer products to people in more locations. We are continuing to move across the U.S. with a strong focus in California.”
Robeks is especially targeting the Inland Empire, Orange County, and Ventura County for new store openings and is also working on several new stores in downtown Los Angeles where it already has about 10 in the area.
“It has definitely been a great market for us. And having started in Los Angeles, this is a market where people appreciate smoothies,” she said.
Many of the franchisees outside of California were opened by Los Angeles transplants who knew of Robeks from living locally and decided to take the concept to a new location around the country, she said.
The 12-year-old chain, which competes with companies like the much larger Emeryville-based Jamba Juice Co. with more than 700 stores at the start of 2007, offers similar healthy options such as smoothie boosts, wheat grass shots, and acai-berry menu options.
Robeks also sells salads, sandwiches and vitamin supplements.
Despite a lagging economy, Miksa says that Robeks has continued to deliver positive sales.
“If we look at the sales environment even with people making trade offs in terms of where they are spending their disposable income they are coming in to buy a $5 smoothie.”
Intimates Merger
The parent company of Frederick’s of Hollywood, FOH Holdings Inc., completed a complicated reverse merger with a New York-based women’s intimate apparel line called Movie Star Inc. that included a one-for-two reverse stock split and a $20 million rights offering.
The new company, Frederick’s of Hollywood Group Inc., started trading under the symbol FOH on the American Stock Exchange at the end of January.
Frederick’s Chief Executive Linda LoRe and Melvyn Knigin, chief executive of Movie Star which sells women’s robes and undergarments to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Federated Department Stores Inc., and other retailers will continue to lead their respective companies independently. Thomas Rende of Movie Star has become CFO of the combined company.
The new company, which is estimated to generate about $200 million in sales, announced plans to use the $20 million offering for expansion. Frederick’s has about 136 stores, mostly in malls, and is targeting 191 mall markets that it would like to go into as its first course of business.
It will also open a Frederick’s of Hollywood Asian office to move products to market quickly and expand its selection.
“Now that we’ve been able to hunker down, the future is the brightest it’s been for the last 20 years,” LoRe said. Frederick’s declared bankruptcy in 2001 but emerged two years later after cutting costs and increasing Internet sales. The company was founded by Frederick Mellinger in 1946 and is credited with creating the modern sexy lingerie industry, including padded and push-up bras.
The company will first target markets where they have a strong presence.
In recent years the company has toned down the sexiness of its apparel to broaden appeal.
On its first day of trading FOH closed at $4.10. Shares hovered around $3.60 for most of the first week.
News & Notes
Yogen Fruz, a 22-year-old Canadian-based frozen yogurt chain comparable to Pinkberry and other dessert businesses, is making its U.S. debut with L.A. as a prime target. Yogen Fruz USA Inc. has completed a master franchise agreement with YF LA Inc. for stores in Long Beach, Santa Monica, Pasadena and elsewhere. Stores will begin opening in coming months. The company, which currently has 1,100 locations in 20 countries, plans to open more than 1,000 locations in the U.S. over the next seven to 10 years, starting with 30 this year. Three Beverly Hills hotels were honored with a Mobil Five-Star Award by Mobil Travel Guide, which rates spas, hotels and restaurants worldwide. They were: Raffles L’Ermitage, The Beverly Hills Hotel and the Peninsula. Four-star winners were Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hilton and Four Seasons. It is based on 750 criteria for hotels including facility and property inspections for cleanliness, condition and location. Five stars is the highest rank.
Staff reporter Sarah Filus can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235 or at [email protected].
