The Tenleytown Robeks store is still going strong after nine years despite the closings of several other Robeks stores in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, according to a store official.
Pedro Lazo, manager of the Tenleytown store, credited location as the reason the store is doing so well.
Located in the heart of Tenleytown–on Wisconsin Avenue by the entrance to the Whole Foods parking garage–the store gets its business from what Lazo calls a “very diverse crowd,” including college students, residents, area employees and Metro users.
“We do really well,” Lazo said. “We’re always busy. I think we might be one of the best stores in the district, if not the best store.”
In fact, the Tenleytown store is doing so well that many customers were unaware that other locations had closed.
Over the past two to four years, four stores have closed due to lack of business in the D.C. metropolitan area, including the Cabin John, College Park, Rockville Town Square, and Fairfax locations, which according to Lazo is easily attributed to bad locations.
“Robeks does pretty well but it depends on location,” Lazo said.
Tenleytown allows small businesses to thrive because of its proximity to public transportation, schools, and big box stores that draw customers in, according to a Tenleytown Retail Submarket Strategic Assessment.
The report also stated that retail businesses in Tenleytown benefit from a large and wealthy daytime population, who can afford Robeks’ smoothies ranging from $4 to $8 dollars.
With a great retail location comes competition from other stores nearby including Starbucks but that doesn’t concern Lazo or the business’ bottom line.
“In the winter they are really busy and we are really slow, and
in the summer we’re a little bit busier,” Lazo said.
Despite this, Robeks still has major competition from other smoothie stores like Jamba Juice, but it’s closest location is three miles away in Dupont Circle.
“If anyone is going to be our competition it’s really them,” Lazo said.
Lazo believes that Robeks will remain in Tenleytown for years to come and continue to integrate onto social media with new promotions. The manager, who is very passionate about his work, also sees himself moving up the ladder.
“I see myself being owner,” Lazo said of his hopes for his future at Robeks.