Houston, TX Getting Freshii Restaurants

This from the Houston Business Journal (http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/) :

Third Coast Produce owners Javier and Teresa Bueno have signed a franchise agreement to open more than 20 Freshii stores (http://www.eatfreshii.com/index.php)in the Houston area. Third Coast Produce is a Houston produce distribution company that supplies to restaurants in the area.

“I saw a demand for healthy and fresh food beginning to increase in Houston, but the restaurant options were few and far between, and there was very little focus on branding,” Javier Bueno said in a statement. “I see Freshii as the perfect brand for addressing a growing demand for fresh, organic food that is good for the entire family.”

Freshii restaurants were started in 2005 by Matthew Corrin in Toronto as a place where people could buy healthy, gourmet meals and snacks. The company is now based in Chicago. “Houston is a top-tier target market for Freshii, as the fourth-largest metro in the U.S.,” Corrin said in a statement.

Freshii currently has 16 restaurants in the United States and Canada. Deals are also in the works to open locations in Washington, D.C. and Denver, according to the company. The Buenos expect to open the first of several locations in the Houston area early in 2010.