Bay Area Franchisee Takes On 16 Jamba Juice Units

A new 16-store refranchising deal in the Bay Area is nearing completion. Jamba Juice franchisee Dwayne Redmond, who operates Valley Juice, LLC, will take over locations in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, and other key Bay Area markets.

"We are very excited to join the Jamba team with this acquisition of 16 new stores," said Dwayne Redmond, president of Valley Juice, LLC. "We look forward to long-term success with this fantastic brand."

The freshly-squeezed juice brand is nearing completion of its current refranchising efforts with 90 percent of stores now franchise owned and operated.

Jamba announced the refranchising initiative at the end of 2014, with a stated goal of refranchising "up to 114" stores during 2015. The company has significantly exceeded its initial goal as the new deal will bring the total stores refranchised in 2015 to 179, with plans to close an additional deal before by the end of the year.

"We are pleased with our progress as we close in on the completion of our refranchising efforts," stated James D. White chairman, president and CEO of Jamba. "This deal positions us well to finish our transition to an asset-light model ahead of schedule."

As of June 30, 2015, there were 807 Jamba stores system-wide in the United States, of which 601 are franchise-operated stores, and 206 are company-owned.