Posted 6:54 pm Sunday, June 26, 2011
Red Mango Franchisee Wants To Honor Grandfather, Promote Healthy Living
By CASEY MURPHY
Business Editor
Business Editor
Stacye French wants to continue the legacy of her late grandfather, Red Little.
A registered nurse from Whitehouse, Ms. French, along with her sister Laura Little, of Irving, and aunt Regina Rooney, of Lindale, are the newest franchisees of Red Mango, a frozen yogurt and smoothie chain they plan to bring to Tyler next year.
Ms. French, 33, was born and raised in Tyler, attended T.K. Gorman High School and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School and Tyler Junior College nursing school.
Stacye French
For more than six years she has worked as an oncology nurse specializing in chemotherapy infusion at Texas Oncology and is a single mother of three boys: Stone, 13, Cole, 11, and Rowan, 7.
After the death of her grandfather, a longtime businessman, two years ago, Ms. French decided she wanted to become a business owner.
Along with her sister and aunt using their inheritance, Ms. French said she began to research small franchises because of her limited business experience. She found Red Mango through a search on the Internet, emailed the company about her interest and was called within two hours.
She didn't know much about the company, so she visited several Red Mangos in the Dallas area.
"I gorged myself on everything they had and it was so delicious," Ms. French said. "The main thing that caught me was they're so focused on health."
She said they are the only yogurt and smoothie chain that can say its products have probiotics and are gluten and fat-free with no sugar added.
"Coming from a medical background, that's just really important to me," Ms. French said. "I'm really passionate about health and trying to teach that to my kids."
She has a tentative location for her Red Mango business in Tyler, but said the building hasn't been constructed so no lease has been signed. She said it will be located on South Broadway Avenue and the building should be completed before next spring, so she hopes to open before the summer season.
Ms. French would also like to open a second location near The University of Texas at Tyler and Tyler Junior College campuses, with a possible third location in Longview.
TRIBUTE
Ms. French said the business will be a tribute to her late grandfather and she likes that red is in the name of Red Mango after Red Little, who was "kind of a health food nut," she said.
"I remember him taking us to Honey Tree (health foods store) and we ate yogurt before it was cool," she said. "He loved yogurt. ... We really feel like he's pulling for us on the other side. We think he'd be proud."
Ms. French said they also want to continue Little's legacy of giving back to the community. Little, who owned Combined Underwriters Life Insurance Co., was a big supporter of the medical and education communities.
She said she'd like to find a way to support the oncology clinic she works for, as well as give scholarships. She said most of Red Mango's six to eight employees will be college students and she plans to encourage their academic excellence with scholarships to help support their education.
Ms. French is also passionate about childhood obesity.
She always felt she was chubby as a child, which weighed heavily on her, and she works with her own children. "It's something I'm conscious of," she said, adding this is the first generation that may not outlive their parents.
"That's terrible," she said. "There really is a problem with childhood obesity."
She wants to support local after-school or summer programs to encourage exercise for children. She said the enemy is that it's so convenient to be unhealthy and she wants to find something that will help families be healthier.
COMPANY HISTORY
John Antioco, of Athens, serves as the chairman of the board of directors for Red Mango, which began in 2007 in Los Angeles.
Antioco and CIC Partners, a private equity group in Dallas, bought the controlling interests of Red Mango in 2008.
When they bought it, there were about 15 Red Mango locations in the country, and they have now expanded the concept to 131 stores in about 20 states, Antioco said. There are 12 Red Mango franchises in Texas.
"We are looking forward to Red Mango to open in Tyler," Antioco said, adding he not only looks forward to the new location as chairman of the board, but also as an East Texas resident who can now go get the product on a regular basis.
Antioco, 61, has been in the retail business his entire career, serving as chief executive officer for Circle K, Taco Bell and Blockbuster until he retired in 2007 with the "goal of looking for retail concepts that had significant growth potential."
He came upon Red Mango and thought it to be the best brand in the category, he said.
Originally from New York, Antioco has lived all over the United States and moved back to Dallas for the second time in 1997 to work for Blockbuster. He bought his home in Athens in 2001 and has lived there full time since 2005.
"I've been interested in putting a store in Tyler for quite some time to have one close to home," he said, adding that Tyler was a likely choice for the area because it's a great business community with great demographics for the "very healthy" Red Mango concept.
Antioco said the No. 1 thing that sets Red Mango apart from other frozen yogurt chains "is the product is the only all-natural frozen yogurt product that has probiotic benefits."
He said Red Mango can make substantiated health claims that their yogurt has probiotic benefits that help digestion and immunity with the best caloric value.
A 4-ounce yogurt from Red Mango has about 140 calories before toppings are added, he added.
"It's a great, satisfying healthy treat with a relatively low calorie count," he said.
Red Mango offers 40 flavors of all-natural, nonfat frozen yogurt, as well as 20 varieties of fresh fruit smoothies, made-to-order fruit parfaits and all-natural probiotic iced teas.
Antioco said they expect to close the year with close to 200 stores.
