Jamba Juice to open 2nd store

Westgate site to offer larger menu of beverages, food items

A second Jamba Juice store will open at Westgate Village Shopping Center and offer an expanded line of juices and food items.

Jamba Juice, a restaurant chain that specializes in fruit smoothies, juices, and healthy drink specialties and foods, will open a second area store next week in the Westgate Village Shopping Center on Central Avenue at Secor Road in Toledo.

The stores, owned by a local franchisee, Susu LLC, will open April 4 in a space previously occupied by Ritter’s Frozen Custard, which closed last year. The first Jamba Juice opened in October, 2012, in Franklin Park Mall.

Liz Holland, chief executive officer of Abbell Associates in Chicago, which owns Westgate, said she was pleased to be able to add Jamba Juice to the shopping center’s tenant lineup.

“We’re really excited. I think a lot of people are excited about this,” Ms. Holland said. “We’re very careful not to overlap competition in the center and we think that Jamba Juice perfectly compliments the other selections we have.

“I think it’s going to be great to have them. It’s just such a great product,” Ms. Holland said.

A spokesman for Susu LLC, which is owned by private investors from Ottawa Hills, said the company has franchising rights for northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan and plans to open more stores.

Susu LLC is looking at the Perrysburg market and is interested in the area near the site of a planned Costco store on State Rt. 25 at Eckel Junction Road. The Susu LLC spokesman said the company does not plan to add another store for at least 12 months.

Jamba Juice Co., which is publicly traded on the Nasdaq market, has approximately 287 company-owned stores and 517 stores owned by franchisees like Susu LLC.

The Westgate store will differ from the Franklin Park store in that it will have a full menu provided by Jamba Juice Co., which is headquartered in Emeryville, Calif., and has locations in 26 states.

The spokesman said the mall store is limited to orange and carrot juice smoothie drinks but the Westgate store will have a “full juice platform” and offer drinks made from kale, ginger, and apple. It also will have an expanded food menu.

In 2012 Westgate and Susu LLC originally discussed placing a store with a drive-through window in the center as part of a new redevelopment of Westgate on the north side of Central Avenue.

But the redevelopment was delayed and Franklin Park offered Susu LLC space in the mall. “Our goal was to open sooner but it looks like it’s going to work out fine. Westgate is a hot area. ... For Jamba [Juice Co.], they think it’s a great space and they really like that kind of visibility,” the spokesman said.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.