Smoothie King Opening in Mokena This Year

MOKENA, IL - Smoothie King, a popular smoothie food maker that originated in Louisiana in 1973, will soon be available nearby for Lincoln-Way residents. The healthy drink chain plans to open a franchise on Lagrange Road in Mokena with owners Brian Griffith and Kim Rouse. It will be one of just a handful of Chicagoland locations.

Brian and Kim dated in college but grew apart when other opportunities came about in different parts of the nation. Brian was in California and Kim in the New York/New Jersey region. But years later they reconnected and have lived together since September in Mokena, where Brian has been a resident for 12 years.

“I came back home to Southwest Chicago on my own after getting married and raising two children. After years of not communicating, I got in touch with Kim and asked her how she was doing,” Brian said. “We ended up reconnecting and it really was like we just picked up right after we left off.”

With the reconnection came a desire to open a franchise business and it was Kim’s frequent stops to a Smoothie King in New Jersey that brought up the idea to consider the company.

Brian was a district manager for a pharmaceutical company for 18 years, so he had quite a bit of business background to decide on which business to be involved with. He said Smoothie King was “one of the top franchises (he) had in mind” and that it worked out for him to sign a lease at 19200 S. Lagrange Road in Meridian Centre. There’s an August opening planned for Smoothie King to join other recently opened businesses in the area such as Chipotle and Starbucks.

The location is perfect for the couple.

“Mokena is a great suburban community that needs an alternative meal replacement that’s specially designed for a particular person and their needs.” Brian said. “It’s a friendly community with schools nearby. Noonan (Elementary School) and Lincoln-Way East are both down the street.”

All Smoothie King locations offer smoothies, enhancers, supplements and more. The locations have been popular in the Southwest and Southeast regions of the country for years.

Kim’s preferred drink is the Mango Madness, which is one of the many meal replacements offered there.

“We will also have smoothies geared to whoever wants to build up muscles and those who want to lose weight,” she said. “We go from one spectrum to the other.”

The “Muscle Punch” is a popular brand for those seeking to bulk up.

Brian and Kim both say their children could be brought into the business operations once they finish school. Brian has a daughter at Roosevelt University and a younger one at Noonan Elementary School. Kim also has a college-age daughter who attends Winston-Salem State in North Carolina.

The two are still waiting on permits from the village of Mokena, which they say has worked well with them thus far as has their realty manager in securing the location and the construction company that built the retail space.

“We’re expecting to see quite a bit of traffic,” Brian said. “There are over a dozen gyms in the area, so it’s good that we will be providing a healthy meal option.”

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