Tom & Angela
Nap ier
Emerald City Smoothie franchisee
Mercer Island & Redmond Ridge
Tom Napier, along with his wife, Angela,
opened two Emerald City Smoothie stores last
year on Mercer Island and in Redmond Ridge.

One of the areas Tom Napier investigated
before joining Emerald City was the background
of the company’s ownership. It turns
out that Jim Baskett, Emerald City’s president
and CEO, bought the health drink enterprise
in 2005 after being a loyal customer for many
years. Baskett also used to be an executive
with local timeshare company, Trendwest Resorts,
which was sold to homebuilding giant,
Cendant, for nearly $900 million in 2002.

That track record and level of personal
attachment to the franchise convinced Napier
that he was in good managerial hands. The
smoothie shops cost around $200,000 to
open, including franchise fees.

Napier also ran the business plan for his
franchises by his Smith Barney financial advisor
and his attorney before signing up. Tom and
Angela intend to open two additional Emerald
City stores—one this year and another in 2008.

The best advice Tom got while talking with
other existing franchisees, he says, was to take
only “A” locations. He says franchisees also
verified company claims that 60 percent of
customers stop in four times a week or more.

“I was amazed at the amount of repeat
customers,” he says. —C.T.