REAL SMOOTHIE
The Grand Rapids Press; Grand Rapids, MI; May 7,
2000; Jennifer Jacobs The Grand Rapids Press;
HOLLAND --
Jack Groot figures the Holland area is ready for a new trend.
With the grand opening of Rubyjuice on Thursday, Groot is trying to corner
the smoothie business in downtown Holland. Rubyjuice, 55 E. Eighth
St., is a California juice bar concept featuring blended-to-order fruit
smoothies, an array of fresh- squeezed juices, and healthy
goodies.
Groot and his wife, Tracy, of Hudsonville, own both JP's
Coffee and Espresso Bar and Rubyjuice. JP's, 57 E. Eighth St., has been an
institution in downtown Holland for six and a half years now. The
juice bar is decorated with lime green walls, a fruit theme with steel
drum and reggae music in the background. Groot has been developing
the juice bar concept for more than a year.
"The smoothie industry is related to the coffee industry, and that's
something that we've always been aware of," Groot said. "And to us, if we
did it, we wanted to do it right."
The Groots just finished
remodeling JP's last year, then the space next door became available when
Franchise Player left. That allowed a 20-seat addition to JP's and enough
room for a separate smoothie business. Jack Groot said they wanted to keep
the two businesses separate.
"JP's has been awesome," Groot said.
"It was the right location at the right time, and we really connected to
people."
During a family vacation to South Carolina last year, Jack
Groot happened to wander into a smoothie bar that was set up by
consultants Chris Cuvelier of San Francisco and Chris Savage of Seattle.
The duo, from Juice and Smoothie Bar Consulting, helped Groot get
Rubyjuice off the ground. They were in Holland for a week to train the 20
new employees hired for Rubyjuice. They also helped Groot with the recipes
and menu. Cuvelier said Holland is different than larger cities
where smoothie bars already are common.
"When you come into a new
town, there's a newness and excitement, and that's something different,"
Cuvelier said. He added that Rubyjuice would be able to set the standard
for a smoothie in the area since many potential customers may have never
had a smoothie before. In larger cities, there are many different choices
available, including canned smoothies. Savage said smoothies really
can give an energy pickup.
"They give a sustained energy that
lasts," he said.
Groot said many people use smoothies as a
nutritional meal replacement for lunch. Many of the smoothie bars out West
offer only 24-ounce sizes, but Groot said he felt it was important to
offer drinks in the smaller 16-ounce version.
During a special preview Wednesday, Groot offered free samples to the
public. The line was out the door and 75 people deep at
times.
Glass Roots of Holland designed the etched glass window with
the new Rubyjuice logo. Lori Corbat-Appledoorn and David Appledoorn,
owners of Glassroots, 26 W. Sixth St., created the piece.
The
smoothies are divided into five categories: functional, berry, citrus,
tropical and special. Each smoothie has a base of sherbet or nonfat frozen
yogurt. A booster can be added to any smoothie for free. The boosters are
energy blend, protein blend, mellow blend, fiber blend, multivitamin
blend, fat stripper blend or immunity blend. Prices range from $3 to
$4.50. Rubyjuice smoothies use frozen fruit instead of fresh, which allows
a consistent flavor.
The special creation smoothies include mocha
motion, peanut butter passion, milk-n-cookies, and colossal carrot. Each
trademark recipe was created by Groot and his consultants.
The
fresh-squeezed juices include orange, apple, carrot, beet, ginger, celery,
as well as watermelon in season. They come in 12-, 16- or 64-ounce
sizes.
Regular hours for Rubyjuice are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday
through Saturday (vary seasonally).