Marcie Morgan is already one of the regulars at Healthies – Crawfordsville, where she comes for her daily smoothie and energy tea fix.
“We’ve had nothing like this around and it’s very helpful to find something healthy and quick and easy,” Morgan said Thursday morning after ordering a Mermaid tea bomb and Cap’n Crunch Berry smoothie. “It replaces my meals, so they’re great.”
The restaurant, which opened its first site in northern Indiana last spring, has expanded to Crawfordsville, adding vitamin-rich drinks to the menu of the downtown restaurant scene.
Each meal-replacement smoothie comes packed with 21 vitamins and minerals and is loaded with protein, fiber and carbs. Customers can pair their smoothie with a tea or iced coffee.
“I’m trying to provide a convenient, healthy meal. That’s my main goal,” said Jeremy Jones, who runs the business with his wife, Tracie, and daughter, Bailey.
After a career as health coaches, the Jones’ closed their gym in Winamac to start the new venture. Additional stores opened last summer in Lafayette and West Lafayette and the business expanded to Rochester in November.
Crawfordsville residents who work in Lafayette put Montgomery County on the couple’s radar. The store opened last week at 109 S. Washington St.
The Crawfordsville store is part of a rising trend. The juice and smoothie bar industry is expected to grow 3.7% this year, according to IBISWorld, an industry research firm. There are more than 4,300 juice and smoothie bars in the U.S.
The business expanded during a time of thriving sales, despite the COVID-19 pandemic that forced Healthies to rely on curbside service.
“We’ve actually had some of our best months during the pandemic,” said Jones, sitting in the dining room during a break in customers.
Healthies is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The store can be reached at 765-307-2155.
