New Pulp Smoothie bar locations planned for Plain Township, Massillon

The chain of Pulp Juice and Smoothie Bars is expanding in Stark County.

Different franchise owners are in the process of opening locations in Plain Township and Massillon.

In Plain Township, 7-2-9 Foods plans to open a Pulp franchise in a building under construction at 6408 Market Ave. N at Market and Easton Street NE. A. Altman Co. is building the restaurant.

In Massillon, JDF Group will move into a spot vacated on Tommy Henrich Way NW.

Adam Graber operates 7-2-9 Foods, based in Dalton. Graber worked as an electrician for 17 years before starting the business franchising Pulp locations. The company owns locations in Stark, Wayne and Richland counties.

In May 2016, Graber bought the Pulp location in The Strip shopping district. That location opened in 2011 and was Stark County’s first.

JDF Group is based in Wadsworth and will move into space previously used by Smoke the Burger Joint in Massillon. It’s expected to open later this fall.

Robert Brown, operations director for DeVille Developments, said the Pulp location will use about half of the open space, so the company is seeking another tenant for the location. Chipotle also is in the building.

Pulp originated in Kent. The company’s founder, Thom Knepp wanted to launch his own business and went with smoothies. He liked the idea of a smoothie as a quick, healthy meal and decided to develop the perfect smoothie bar.

The Pulp brand has expanded with more than 40 locations primarily in Ohio. Single locations have opened in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, and a store in planned for West Virginia.