Bentonville Smoothie King Plans Soft Opening Oct. 6

Local franchisees Thuc (pronounced Tuck) and Jackie Tran say Oct. 6 is the day they will open the doors of their new Smoothie King location in Bentonville.

The store, located at 3410 S.E. J St, will open at 6:30 a.m. that day.

The 1,050-SF restaurant is housed in a 3,038-SF building, with the remainder still available for lease. The Trans closed on a $250,000 land purchase of the 0.71-acre site last April and own the building. They are working with commercial real estate broker Clinton Bennett with CBRE Northwest Arkansas in Fayetteville to identify possible tenants.

“We have a few interested parties, but nothing concrete yet,” Thuc Tran said. “We want something family oriented to complement Smoothie King, and we’re waiting for the right tenant.”

The Trans have signed an agreement to develop five stores in Northwest Arkansas, and need to have three of them open by the end of 2017.

“Everything is contingent on finding good locations,” Tran said. “We don’t want to settle for locations just to meet that target. Building a brand in Northwest Arkansas requires good location.”

Oelke Construction Co. of Springdale was the builder and Burris Architecture of Rogers was the designer of the new building.

Smoothie King was founded in Kenner, Louisiana, in 1973 by Steve Kuhnau. Wan Kim, a franchisee in South Korea, bought the company in 2012. The New Orleans-based company has about 750 locations internationally, with 650 of them in the United States.

In addition to its 50-plus nutritional smoothie choices, Smoothie King offers healthy living products including energy bars, snacks and vitamin supplements.

Tran said a goal in the Northwest Arkansas market will be partnering with local schools and bike shops to promote an active lifestyle.

Store hours are 6:30 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Tran said he has hired 16 full-time employees to staff the business, including two shift managers.