Hopes For A Smoothie Transition In Peabody

PEABODY, MA — Erica Beaudry and her husband took a leap of faith 18 months ago when they opened their first Tropical Smoothie Café franchise in Swampscott with two toddlers because they wanted to strike while the potentially fleeting opportunity was available.

Having not only survived — but eventually thrived — during a full year of running the business amid the coronavirus health crisis, Beaudry and Brandon Auger decided now was the time to expand.

"We probably seem crazy opening a restaurant during COVID," Beaudry told Patch. "We were open four months in Swampscott when it started. And we took a hit initially. It was pretty scary.

"But business rebounded pretty quickly and we had a pretty good year. Our goal was to open more than one. We figured that if we can (keep) open one during COVID, then we can open another one."

The new Peabody location opened on Andover Street one week ago with a soft opening and a grand opening with promotions planned for this weekend. The Swampscott location was the seventh, and Peabody location the 16th, franchise in Massachusetts for the smoothie and sandwich brand that has more than 860 locations nationwide.

Beaudry said she and her husband were big smoothie fans when they moved to Massachusetts about three years ago and were surprised to find out there were few locations on the North Shore to get them. So, despite having a 1-year-old and 3-year-old at home, they decided to open the Vinnin Square location before the opportunity passed them by.

The theory was the same when the chance came to open the second location in Peabody this spring.

"Peabody was just a really enticing one for us because it's exploding right now and we didn't know how long we would have to do one there (before someone else did)," she said. "Being able to share staff between the stores made this opening a lot easier the second time around."

The Tropical Smoothie Café is in the former Big Picture Framing location that also includes a Five Guys. Beaudry said she expects more neighbors when the former Jos. A. Bank location is split into three smaller business spaces and soon filled.

"One of the big things about where we are in Swampscott is that we are in a lunch destination area," Beaudry said. "Once we get all the tenants here, hopefully, we'll get all the customers."

Beaudry said business has been pretty brisk in the first week through a combination of takeout, dine-in and third-party delivery business.

This weekend is the grand opening with $1.99 smoothies all day Saturday and $1.99 flatbreads on Sunday. There will also be a prize wheel where customers can win free smoothies, free food and up to 50 customers will win free smoothies for a year.

Beaudry said the Peabody location has 22 employees with the Swampscott location at 28.

Restaurants are competing for staff across the region this spring as they look to expand with more people feeling comfortable being out and dining in as the coronavirus pandemic hopefully wanes.

"It took me a while to find the staff to fill here," Beaudry allowed. "It took longer than I thought.

"Hopefully we're really busy and slamming this summer. I expect to keep hiring here for the foreseeable future. The good thing is once you have your core staff, they tell their friends about it and hiring becomes a lot easier."

Beaudry said she is looking forward to having the customers embrace the food, smoothies and service at the second location as quickly as they did the first one.

"We're thrilled to be bringing our health, quality food and smoothies to this market and hope to build the same loyal following that we've created at our Swampscott location here in Peabody," she said.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)