After launching two successful businesses in Collierville last year, Rick and Brenda Frembgen are expanding both concepts to Lakeland Town Square later this year.
Carrington Oaks Coffeehouse and Floral, along with their newest franchise — The Exercise Coach — will open in Phase 1 at the $70 million mixed-use project on U.S. 70 at Seed Tick Road. The first wave of commercial openings will also include Margaritas Mexican Grill & Bar and Shades of Nails & Spa.
“We’re seeing a lot of interest from local business owners with the desire to expand to Lakeland,” Brittney Buchanan, Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce executive director, said. “Rick is an example of someone who sees our value and potential, and we’re excited he is choosing to invest in Lakeland Town Square.”
Former IT director Rick Frembgen already decided to set out as an entrepreneur before the pandemic hit last year. The resulting COVID-19 chaos turned into the perfect time to go ahead and retire from the IT world.
He and his wife purchased the franchise rights to three target locations of The Exercise Coach, choosing Collierville, Lakeland and Niceville, Florida, and opened the first in January of last year at Schilling Farms in Collierville. The second will be in Lakeland, and the Niceville location will probably open sometime in 2022.
The Exercise Coach currently includes approximately 125 locations across the U.S., with another 75 planned for the rest of this year. The concept focuses on strength training and touts the need for only two 20-minute workouts each week.
“That’s the thing that’s so hard to believe for people, that a 20-minute workout would work twice a week, but it does. And we can prove it to you because all of the equipment is computerized, and we can show you your results as you get stronger and it makes you healthier overall,” Frembgen said. “It’s a very fast-moving franchise.”
Then the couple opened their original concept — Carrington Oaks Coffeehouse and Floral — in Collierville last August. As the world was coming out of the pandemic and gyms reopened, the Frembgens went for a cup of coffee at a nearby shop. and found it closed.
“My wife and I loved their location,” Frembgen said. “Somebody else was already looking at it, but they decided to hold off due to the pandemic. So, we jumped on it since they were reluctant to make up their mind at that particular time.”
“We really promote the atmosphere as well as what we sell inside the coffeehouse,” he said.
The menu includes a slate of destination coffee beverages with 40 different syrup flavors as well as breakfast and lunch sandwiches, pastries, and Danishes.
“Breakfast sandwiches have become big surprise bestsellers. We custom make the sandwiches to each customer’s specifications, with a large variety of cheese and bread types, including gluten-free,” Frembgen said.
While Brenda had experience as a fry cook and waitress and her family owned restaurants, neither she nor her husband had ever run a restaurant before last year.
“We find it very, very challenging, but we absolutely love it,” Frembgen said. “And that’s why we decided to expand to another location since the first one is doing so well.”
He focuses on running The Exercise Coach, while his wife and son run the café.
Since they were going to be in Lakeland opening the new Exercise Coach location, they decided to add another coffeehouse there. The Frembgens are considering other coffeehouse locations in the Memphis are
Frembgen hopes to start build out of the new spaces at Lakeland Town Square by September, with the goal of opening before the end of the year. The coffeehouse will be roughly 2.5 times the size of the Collierville location, with more indoor and outdoor dining space.
He expects to hire roughly 15 employees for the two businesses.
Lakeland is set for a large influx of dining choices with construction of Lakeland Town Square and The Lake District at Interstate 40 and Canada Road.
“Our community is eager to dine, shop and spend local, and we’re so close to a plethora of new opportunities for dining and recreational options for the residents and visitors of Lakeland,” Buchanan said.