A new smoothie shop located between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro is helping area residents regain their health in a tasty way. Local mom Liz Blakemore had the vision to open Roots after losing 85 pounds after the birth of her daughter, even when her doctor told her it wouldn’t happen because of her thyroid condition. While Roots has been open at 69 Knox Way in Polks Village in Chapel Hill with a limited menu since July 2, the shop’s grand opening and full rollout of products will be held on August 13. Pickett Sprouse Commercial Real Estate brokers Graham Storey and Charles Bartscher represented Blakemore in leasing the 1,200 square foot space.
Blakemore, who is also a dance teacher and choreographer as well as the office manager for a construction agency, discovered a world renowned, award-winning healthy nutrition line of products after the birth of her daughter in 2019. She was having trouble losing weight, was low on energy, and was getting sick often. She used the meal replacement shakes and teas to help her lose 85 pounds and felt so much better that she decided to start selling the products part-time. With the success of that business, Blakemore decided to open her own shop, which in the world of Herbalife is called a nutrition club.
“I just looked at my husband one day and said, ‘I want to own my own business,’“ said Blakemore.“I told him that I wanted to be able to make these amazing drinks and meal replacement shakes for other people and share what this opportunity is for health but also as a business. So, here we are today.”
Roots’ products include healthy, clean energizing teas, protein meal replacement shakes that taste like milkshakes, weight-loss and weight-gain programs, and a line of shakes for athletes. It is currently open Tuesday-Saturday, 7am- 3pm, but the hours will expand to 7am - 5pm, Tuesday- Friday and 9am - 3pm on Saturdays after the grand opening. It is located on Highway 15-501 between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro in Chatham County.
“The area surrounding Roots is perfect for this type of shop and a growing health-oriented customer-base that could potentially benefit from and enjoy these types of products,” said Graham Storey. “There are already plenty of health care providers in close proximity as well as Chatham Park and other new home developments and apartments in the works nearby. There isn’t another business like this in the immediate vicinity, so we knew it was the perfect location for Liz to realize her goals with her first brick-and-mortar business.”