WS Chronicle

Photo by Todd Luck 

Franchisee Duvane Dorsey opens second smoothie shop in Winston-Salem 

BY TODD LUCK

THE CHRONICLE

In less than a year, Duvane Dorsey has opened two Smoothie King locations in Winston-Salem.

He opened his first Smoothie King at 1961 N. Peace Haven Road on Oct. 29 of last year. His second store opened last Monday, Aug. 15, at 5709 University Parkway and is already receiving a steady stream of customers.

Dorsey said word of mouth about the new location has brought in costumers and made it “wonderful from day one.”

“I wasn’t expecting the love we’re getting at this store from the community, from the area, which I am so thankful for.”

Dorsey, 41, an Indiana native, has lived in Charlotte most of his life. He’s an Army National Guard veteran and works as an IT project manager at a bank. He’s also a married father of two, so he’s been juggling many responsibilities while making his entrepreneurial dreams come true.

Dorsey discovered smoothies during his military service. He was looking for something to help him get fit and visited a smoothie shop in Columbia, S.C. He fell in love with smoothies and has been drinking them ever since.

After moving back to Charlotte, he found a Smoothie King, which has a wide variety of smoothies that are designed to be healthy, nutritious and tasty. He said the menu was like nothing he’d seen before, with so many options it took 10 minutes to decide what he wanted, which ended up being a pomegranate smoothie. He said it was the best smoothie he’d ever had.

So when he wanted to start a franchise, his mind went to smoothies. After some research, he came up with a list of 10 major smoothie chains and called them up.  Smoothie King wasn’t on this list, but he was drinking a Smoothie King smoothie while going through his options. He realized the answer was right in front of him the entire time. He gave his favorite smoothie brand a call and things finally started clicking.

Dorsey said a good bit of the state already had Smoothie King franchises and he had to pick an area that didn’t. He thought Winston-Salem would be a good spot because of the colleges here. He said his Peace Haven location, in the same plaza as a Harris Teeter and Chic-fil-A, has a steadily growing customer base. His shop has catered the Wake Forest men’s basketball team at home games.

The second Smoothie King, at the corner of University Parkway and Robin Wood Lane, was actually his first choice for a location, but he needed to wait for the newly constructed building it’s now in to be completed. Between the two shops, both of which have drive thru windows, Dorsey has about 24 full-time and part-time employees.

He said Smoothie King has helped him every step of the way, including pointing him in the right direction to find financing for his locations. Dorsey said his long-term plan is to open up a third location in the area. He said he’s had customers driving from Kernersville and Clemmons for his shops’ smoothies.

Smoothie King, which was started in 1973 by Steve Kuhnau in Louisiana, has more than 800 locations worldwide. Its smoothies can help people achieve a variety of fitness goals. Smoothies can also have enhancers added like a multivitamin, muscle builder or ingredients that boost the immune system. It also sells healthy chips, supplements and other health conscious products.

Dorsey said smoothies also taste great and can be a good way to get children to eat healthy. He said even the pickiest kids are won over once they get a sample.

“They taste the Little Angel [smoothie] and the kids fall out because it’s nothing but strawberries, bananas and multivitamin,” he said.

Dorsey, whose been taking time off to open the new location, said he expects to transition from his current job to just focusing on his smoothie shops by next year and is contemplating moving to Winston-Salem.