Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Pepitone.
Nick, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
In 2018 I was working as a Commercial Insurance Broker in Houston for the past several years. After success within my career, I recognized that I was lacking a drive/passion for what I did. After several discussions with my wife, Megan, we came to the realization that owning our own business was the perfect fit. We had the drive and entrepreneurial spirit, but one issue we had was lacking a grand business idea.
After a poor experience at a local juice bar, the light bulb went off that this would be a great opportunity that fit our passion for health & wellness. Having no previous business ownership we decided to look into franchising where we were introduced to Clean Juice, the only USDA Certified Organic juice bar franchise in the country. Right away we fell in love with the atmosphere within the store, the delicious menu, and the faith-based core values.
Immediately we began working with the Home Office team of Clean Juice to develop our own store in The Woodlands, TX. Beginning with development in June of 2018, our store officially opened to guests in late April of 2019 with great anticipation.
We are now seven months into operation, and while we have learned a ton with the ups and downs of business ownership, it has been a fulfilling journey to this point. We love the ability to build something of our own, with the help of the Clean Juice brand, while serving our community with organic goodness.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Ha! I am now a firm believer that anything easy must not be worth it…
We ran into several issues when it came to real estate, construction, etc. while developing the store. Those were all new concepts and situations we were thrust into, but there is no better way to learn than to be thrown into the fire.
We face challenges everyday with increased competition, but even more so with brand and product education. There is nowhere else where our guests can receive a Certified Organic juice, smoothie, acai bowl, toast or salad. Many people still are unaware of the benefits of eating and consuming organic within their daily lives. Once we get product into a guests hands and introduce them to the environment of Clean Juice, we believe we will have a guest for life! As a new small business, we are constantly striving to reach as many folks as possible, we know the product tastes great, we just need to get them in the store!
Please tell us about Clean Juice The Woodlands.
Clean Juice is the first and only USDA Certified Organic juice bar franchise in the country! We offer our guests several menu items from juices, smoothies, acai bowls, toasts and salads which are all prepared in our store with only organic ingredients.
Our bottled juices are cold-pressed with no HPP, inside of our very store. This is crucial as the shelf-life of our products are never altered, no added sugars or preservatives. Once the juice is extracted from our cold-press machine, it is immediately bottled and labeled for our guests to consume.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
To be honest, we have run into several obstacles and have learned so many lessons along the way, but I would not change a thing at this point. Each of those instances taught us what we now know and utilize to implement at the store on a daily basis. It has made us better business owners, but more importantly it has helped create the environment at the store with guest experience as the number one priority.
Pricing:
- Cold Press Juice (16oz.) – $9.50
- Fresh Pressed Juice (16oz.) – $8.75
- Smoothie (16oz.) – $7.25
- Protein Smoothie (16oz.) – $8.25
- Kids Smoothie (10oz.) – $4.95
- Acai Bowl – $10.25
- Greenoa Bowl – $9.95
- Avocado Toast – $5.25
- Cold Pressed Shots – $5.25
- Juice Cleanse (6 Juices/Day) – $57/Day
Contact Info:
- Address: 6777 Woodlands Parkway, Suite 320, The Woodlands, TX 77382
- Website: cleanjuice.com
- Phone: 281-771-3929
- Email: NICK.PEPITONE@CLEANJUICE.COM
- Instagram: @cleanjuicethewoodlands
- Facebook: facebook.com/cleanjuicethewoodlands
Suggest a story: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
