California-based Vitality Bowls to open third Orlando location
California-based franchise Vitality Bowls will open a third Orlando eatery in O-Town West in September.
That’s in addition to a fourth local store planned in Maitland at 360 E. Horatio Ave. Opening details on the next Orlando-area location have not been released yet. The 1,200-square-foot O-Town West location at 11810 Glasshouse Lane has a target opening date of Sept. 2, O-Town West franchise owner Sergio Lopez said. That date might be pushed back, he said, based on when the shop’s health inspection is completed and when he’s able to secure a business operating license from the state.
Vitality Bowls will join other brands congregating in the Village, one of four master-planned commercial complexes in the 350-acre, $1 billion O-Town West mixed-use project, owned by Unicorp National Developments. The Village is anchored by two large chains, Lopez said: White Castle and Portillo’s.
Two additional Vitality Bowls restaurants in the Orlando area, in Ocoee and Dr. Phillips, are operated by a different franchisee.
Lopez signed the lease for O-Town West in 2019. The onset of Covid-19 delayed construction on the complex, as well as the buildout for Vitality Bowls itself, he said.
The area is desirable for its blend of local and tourist traffic, said Lopez. The site sits in proximity to SeaWorld, Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, while still being close to residential areas.
Lopez also owns a jewelry kiosk at the Florida Mall and three NYS Collection shops at Orlando-area malls. As he and his wife considered which franchise to approach next, Vitality Bowls intrigued them because of its emphasis on superfood-stuffed, low-sugar acai bowls, he said. “We’ve always had a big interest in nutrition and wanted to fulfill that dream of combining two passions: nutrition and retail.”
The O-Town West location will seat 25 indoors and around 16 outdoors, Lopez said. He contracted with Clermont-based Burton Construction Management for a buildout in the $220,000-$250,000 range.
Overall expenses for opening the cafe totaled almost $400,000, Lopez said. That includes higher-than-expected costs associated with hiring employees, including advertisements on Indeed, CareerPlug and ZipRecruiter. Assembling the team of 10 the restaurant needs to open has been the biggest pre-opening challenge so far, but the shop is finally approaching the mark, he said.
The restaurant industry added 74,100 new jobs in July, the most since February, according to Bureau of Labor and Statistics data compiled by the National Restaurant Association. While job opportunities have surged, ongoing labor shortages have stymied growth: 50% of restaurant operators surveyed by the association reported recruiting and retaining employees as their biggest challenge.
Accommodation and food services had the highest quit rate at 5.7% across 16 industries surveyed by BLS in June 2022. The average quit rate among all industries was 2.8%, in comparison.
Now that he’s addressed the hiring shortage, Lopez said he needs to source products and other materials needed to open the new location. The franchise uses a combination of national distributors like Sysco and local food vendors for its fresh produce.
Soaring produce prices will make some ingredients harder to come by, said Lopez. Raspberries and goat cheese are particularly in short supply and may require substitutes, he said. “That’s a huge challenge for the franchise overall: to be able to source ingredients at a viable price, without customer prices going through the roof or margins being cut.”
Vitality Bowls specializes in customizable acai bowls, which range from $11 to $15, as well as smoothies, wraps and salads. The company has 74 locations open in 19 states across the country, including four existing locations in Florida. Seven more locations are slated to come online soon.