Smoothie King
September 17, 2022
In 1973, Steve and Cindy Kuhnau founded Smoothie King in Kenner, Louisiana.
In 2012, the Kuhnaus sold the company to Wan Kim who had been a South Korean Smoothie King franchisee since 2002.
With $US58 million from the Standard Charter Private Equity and National Pension Fund, Kim grew the company. Kim’s plan was to open 800 new franchises and the company’s first 200 corporately-owned stores.
By 2012 Smoothie King’s per-store revenue had reached $362,000 and by 2017, corporate-wide, revenues were $372.5 million and $415.7 million in the following fiscal year.
In 2014, Smoothie King contracted with the New Orleans Pelicans to rename the New Orleans Arena, Smoothie King Center until 2024. Following testing to ensure the products did not contain any league-banned substances, the contract was extended to 2034.
As of August 2021, Smoothie King was based in Coppell, Texas.
Most Smoothie Kings are located in the United States, however, there are also Smoothie King locations in South Korea, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago. CEO Wan Kim, learning from other smoothie companies’ failures, has avoided opening Smoothie Kings in cold-weather locations.
In 2018, the company opened its 1001st store.
Today, there are 1,090 Smoothie locations.
Gloria Sauvé
Communications and Marketing