Okay, so I work at Tropical Smoothie and cannot even count how many people have come up to me asking about why Tropical Smoothie is shutting down. I just wanted to inform everyone on what the current and future situation with Tropical Smoothie.
As most know, and for those of you who don’t, Tropical Smoothie is the smoothie and wrap/salad/sandwich place that is in the University of Iowa Rec center. There have been emails, flyers and public announcements made that the café is closing down. However, there hasn’t been much information or knowledge as to why and what is happening with the area.
The university has a contract with the franchise Tropical Smoothie, which ends in May of this year. While we are called Tropical Smoothie, and work under their franchise, we still are technically unaffiliated with them to a certain degree. This means that we are unable to use gift cards, most coupons and are limited on which smoothies and food to sell. Although we are restricted with being held under a certain franchise, that is not our sole reason for ending this contract.
We also feel that we want to expand our opportunity as a restaurant and stand on our own. So, do not panic. Yes, Tropical Smoothie is shutting down. But, we will still be having a very similar smoothie and food store in the exact same location, with a better menu and a cooler name.
Which is where all of you from the community come in. We are looking for a new name for our restaurant! There are boxes set up on the counters of Tropical Smoothie, and you could also submit your ideas online. For the first place winner, your name will become the new name of the store and you will get four free sandwiches a month for the following school year. Second and Third place winners will receive two free sandwiches a month for the following academic year. If you haven’t already submitted ideas through the first round of voting, you still have time. We will again be accepting ideas March 2–6. The name with the most votes will then be chosen and you will be notified.
Now, don’t forget about the best part of creating a new business. We want our customers to be satisfied with all of our new smoothies and sandwiches, so we will be holding free samples of wraps, sandwiches and smoothies. Our first free sample day has already passed, but don’t worry, there is another one approaching soon! On March 4 come on in and try our free samples! Time to be determined. Most of our smoothie and food recipes will stay the same, we will just be giving them new names and adding some of our customer’s favorites to the menu.
I hope that I have answered all of your questions. I myself was very worried when hearing that my favorite smoothie place on campus might be shutting down. However, I am now ecstatic to know that there will be more options and an awesome name to this new restaurant and cannot wait to see what it has in store for our campus!
