Bradenton Family Awarded Smoothie King's National Franchisee of the Year Award

 BRADENTON – A local family who became Smoothie King Franchisees in 2007 was named Franchisee of the Year by the company recently, at its annual conference in New Orleans. David and Dawn Cotrone and their son David Cotrone, Jr., who now have three local locations, were recognized for their exceptional operations, sales and contributions to the success of the Smoothie King brand.

More than 1,000 corporate team members, franchise partners and partner vendors franchise partners and partner vendors from all over the world were gathered for the annual event.

“We are pleased to honor the Cotrones for their commitment and dedication to Smoothie King and for inspiring people to live a healthy and active lifestyle,” said Smoothie King Global CEO Wan Kim. “The Cotrones exemplify our ideal franchise partner who truly understands our business and values focused on offering smoothies with a purpose. As we continue expanding both nationally and internationally, it is important for us to continue adding strong candidates like the Cotrones to our existing network of dedicated and successful franchisees.”

David and Dawn Cotrone

The Cotrones opened their first Smoothie King location in 2007, earning them the New Franchisee of the Year Award, and have since opened two additional stores in the area. The family plans to open a fourth location with a drive-thru in 2015. Their current Bradenton locations are at 3816 Manatee Ave. W; 3543 53rd Avenue W; and at the IMG Academy, 5500 34th Street W.

“This recognition is a huge honor for our family and I am very proud of our dedicated team for its hard work,” said David Cotrone, Sr. “Smoothie King has done an outstanding job of delivering high-quality products, while continuing to evolve the brand through a new store design and exciting product pipeline, further positioning it as a leader in the competitive smoothie industry. We look forward to our continued partnership and growth with Smoothie King.”

Smoothie King says it has an aggressive growth strategy to add more than 900 new franchised and corporate stores domestically over the next four years and is currently targeting expansion in Tampa, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

Internationally, Smoothie King says it has plans to develop 500 new franchised and corporate locations in target markets such as Singapore, Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates over the next five years.