Former New York Jet Finds a Winning Strategy with Airport Food Service Concepts
Ray Mickens, a cornerback for the Jets and Patriots during his 10-plus-year professional football career, has added Smoothie King to his franchise portfolio. Since playing his last NFL game in 2006, Mickens — like many former professional athletes — has been busily involved in restaurant franchising. He and his brother Leonard own M2 Concepts, which has 40 food-service locations, with a concentration in airports, Nation’s Restaurant News reported.
The Mickens brothers may be onto something with their specialized strategy. The global airport quick-service restaurant market should grow at 3.78% annually from now through 2033, according to the market research firm Spherical Insights, when it will surpass $252 billion. Spherical Insights notes that this market is steadily increasing because more people are traveling by air and they consistently seek food and beverages in a hurry.
Franchises in Airports
Mickens, who played his collegiate football at Texas A&M University, recently opened his first Smoothie King site inside the bustling Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Nation’s Restaurant News reported. He explained that he likes the idea of franchises in airports because airport food-service brands have “a captive audience.” He has investments inside nine airports at present.
Mickens is no newcomer to airport food service. He invested $15,000 in his uncle’s pretzel-and-popcorn stand in the Philadelphia airport back in 1999, he told NRN. That venture helped him learn the ropes. Later he invested in a pizzeria, Starbucks and a Qdoba Mexican restaurant. “It started to snowball from there,” Mickens told the publication. He said that because of his accounting background, he had always maintained an interest in a business career after his football days ended, NRN stated.
Why Smoothie King?
So what piqued Mickens’ interest in Smoothie King? One reason is its healthful menu, something he agrees with personally and knows that consumers clamor for. His DFW Airport Smoothie King franchise is “exceeding expectations,” he told NRN, and he predicts healthier meals and drinks will enjoy strong long-term demand at U.S. airports.
Mickens says smoothies intrigue him, and nutrient-rich versions are big-time faves of many former and present professional athletes. Players on the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs team like a beet-infused smoothie, according to Business Insider. Retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady, tennis headliners Naomi Osaka and Venus Williams, and National Basketball Association star Giannis Antetokounmpo also are smoothie fans, Insider reported.
Athletes Win as Franchisees
Professional athletes past and present also share an enthusiasm for – and enjoy success with – franchising as a whole. They know how to execute a game plan, and franchisees are expected to follow the winning playbook that the franchisor has carefully developed and continually hones.
In addition, athletes are accustomed to tackling objectives with a team-based approach. “I think that’s why athletes want to go into franchising – because you get to develop your own team,” NRN quoted him as saying. “I enjoy working with these different personalities and trying to build the best championship team that I can. You have to have discipline, be consistent, and be able to handle adversity. You celebrate your wins, but you quickly move on to for the next challenge. I think that’s a trait that us former athletes have.”
Pro athletes also hold an edge in franchising because of various traits they developed as competitors. Among other things, they will persevere as needed in order to win; they’re decisive and focused; and they have a passion for people and service.
Success Stories
These skills and characteristics have marked the franchise success stories of former NBA stars Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal as well as former NFL quarterback Drew Brees. Johnson’s business empire includes Burger King; Brees has invested in Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, Happy’s Irish Pub, Stretch Zone and Walk Ons Bistreaux & Bar. O’Neal has taken ownership stakes in an array of franchise restaurants, including Auntie Annie’s Pretzels, Big Chicken, Krispy Kreme, and Papa John’s; he formerly was part-owner of 155 Five Guys restaurants. Onetime NBA player Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman’s holdings include Blaze Fast Fire’d Pizza, Chili’s and Wendy’s restaurants.
Former NFL standout Lincoln Kennedy first ventured into franchising with Subway and Blimpie’s restaurants and now owns multiple units of Angry Crab Shack. Another veteran of the NFL, Jarrett Bush, opened a Blo Blow Dry Bar in Wisconsin last year. Retired NFL quarterback and TV pitchman Peyton Manning owned Papa John’s locations from 2012 to 2018.
So Mickens is in good company as someone who applies lessons from his playing days to achieve success in franchising. It’s good business all the way around.
Photo: Smoothie King
