What do you call a premium product, a strong business plan, and a proven operational strategy,
Chris Moncus
perfectly blended and served up in a prime location? Justin Henshaw will tell you, on St. Simons Island, you call it Fuse Frozen Yogurt. He recently shared the story of Fuse’s creation, growth, and current status with EIL.
Fuse is the brainchild of Henshaw, an island native and former Marine with a penchant for entrepreneurial success and business savvy. He and his wife, Brie, opened Fuse’s first store in June of 2012, and it quickly became popular. Currently operating in the top 10 percent nationally of all frozen yogurt shops in the industry, Fuse continues to thrive, growing to three storefronts locally within three years and, Justin adds, they are poised to become a nationally recognized chain in the foreseeable future.
Justin credits two key components for Fuse’s unprecedented success in the local frozen yogurt market: ideal locations and operational excellence. He says he knew intuitively that Fuse’s flagship store location was critical, and was unmovable on where that would be. Convinced that 101 Longview Plaza was where Fuse should begin, he made that location a priority. But, he explains, he also knew that location alone doesn’t build a successful frozen yogurt business. What is offered and how it is offered plays just as crucial a role, and Justin attributes Fuse’s operational success largely to Brie. From the bright, welcoming atmosphere of the self-serve shop to the friendliness of the well-trained staff to the premium ingredients of the products, Brie has crafted Fuse, from the inside out, to greet customers with nothing but the best.
Chris Moncus
But, Justin points out, location and operations, while critical, are only part of the explanation. And he believes that when you know something of the backstory, it’s not at all difficult to understand where Fuse’s success stems from.
Justin grew up on St. Simons Island, so he brings local perspective to bear, alongside his industry experience and business degree. A Glynn Academy graduate, Justin was living in New York City, without much focus or drive, he admits, when 9/11 occurred. Compelled to help in the face of our nation’s tragedy, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Infantry. Justin says that the six years he spent in the Corps, with multiple deployments, including four combat tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan, taught him discipline, focus, and determination. He returned to the island, began studying for his business degree, and started down the path that would eventually lead to Fuse.
While still earning his degree, Justin launched his first two entrepreneurial ventures. The first, which he still owns, was Island Sound, a wedding DJ and entertainment business that now serves clients from as far north as Charleston, South Carolina, to as far south as Tampa, Florida. The second, a successful food truck called Coasters, he sold when he turned his attention to opening Fuse.
Justin notes that his success is especially remarkable in that he pulled it off in the midst of the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression. Financing these ventures seemed an insurmountable hurdle, and he admits that in the beginning he wouldn’t have been able to do so without the love and support of his grandparents Jane and Allen Mitchell. The expansion of Fuse he credits to his team of financial advisors and mentors: Robert Cable with Liquid Capital, Wes Gash with First Glynn Bank, Nick Doster with Bank of America, and Dave Wilkens with Coastal Bank of Georgia. “I’m truly grateful for their support and belief in me. I could not have expanded Fuse this quickly without them.” Justin says.
Now in its fourth year, Fuse operates in three locations and is currently developing a franchise model that Justin and Brie hope to make available soon. Meanwhile, the Henshaws opted to bring what they’ve determined to be a decidedly successful partnership to work in another direction by welcoming daughter Madison Jane in October of this year. Justin says she might just be their “cherry on top.”
