PayPal continues its bricks-and-mortar invasion.
eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)‘s popular financial platform announced deals this week with several traditional retailers. Building on last year’s push for real-world relevancy, there are now 23 chains — watching over 18,000 stores between them — that now accept PayPal at the checkout register.
One of the new partners is Jamba Inc. (NASDAQ:JMBA) , and PayPal can even come in handy without ever stepping up to the register.
Now, it’s true that Jamba’s been offering pre-order convenience for those paying with traditional credit and debit cards for years. Jamba is that kind of forward-thinking company. However, attaching itself as one of the first two dozen retailers testing PayPal as a transactional platform shows that the growing franchise is making sure that it stays ahead of the blender-whirring pack.
Jamba Inc (NASDAQ:JMBA) has plenty of momentum these days.
The stock soared 71% higher in 2012, and the shares are already trading nearly 10% higher early in 2013. After the company posted back-to-back profitable quarters during the seasonally potent spring and summer seasons last year, analysts see Jamba coming through with its first annual profit in 2013.
Starbucks validated the smoothie market with its 2011 acquisition of Evolution Fresh, but it will take years before the java giant fleshes out its juice bar chain to challenge Jamba’s market dominance.
Jamba’s big — and getting bigger.
The 788-unit chain introduced new concept stores and formats yesterday, promising to refresh and redesign its existing stores over the next four years. Its expansion goals for 2013 are ambitious. It plans to open 60 to 80 new stores worldwide, while also adding 1,000 self-serve JambaGO locations and 100 limited-menu Smoothie Stations. It will also refresh as many as 100 stores with the new sleek redesign.
Then again, if PayPal’s test expands beyond the Emeryville test store, it’s not as if patrons will have too long to admire the new digs.
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The article Jamba Blends Well With PayPal originally appeared on Fool.com.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Aristotle Munarriz owns shares of Jamba. The Motley Fool recommends eBay and Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of eBay and Starbucks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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