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Although pro basketball star Jewell Loyd could attend the grand opening of her smoothie outlet in Skokie in spirit only, the Lincolnwood resident has said she’ll be a hands-on owner.
Having been raised in a household where business was as much emphasized as basketball, Loyd and brother Jarryd Loyd said they were happy that the event July 22 at their newly-purchased Smoothie King, located at 3612 W. Touhy Ave., near Walmart, had lines out the door.
While Jarryd Loyd and mother Gwendolyn Davis- Loyd presided over the opening, the WNBA Seattle Storm star Jewell Lloyd was 2,000 miles away, preparing for a home game with the visiting Chicago Sky.
Yet when she returns home after the season, Jewell Loyd said she’ll be a regular at the store, having taken training behind the counter in preparing the menu’s dozens of different smoothies, a personal daily sweet-tooth favorite. And if fans want to talk up her 2020 U.S. Olympic basketball gold medal, Loyd says she’ll chat.
“It’s efficient and effective. A win-win,” Jewell Loyd said of the decision by the two siblings to help Smoothie King, a Southern-based chain, establish a greater footprint up north. The menu distinguishes itself from more typical fast-food or fast-casual outlets populating the landscape in the new owners’ analysis.
Jewell Lloyd told of her business and sports goals in a phone interview after practice for the Storm, for which she helped win WNBA championships in 2018 and 2020 as a teammate of WNBA superstar Sue Bird, who retired at the end of the 2022 season.
The Loyds want to offer healthy options compatible with the kosher and halal dietary requirements of the Jewish and Muslim populations in the Skokie area. And they desire to offer employment opportunities to local teenagers and give them an entry into the labor market.
Smoothie King employs 12, the majority of which worked in high gear serving the opening mob. Jarryd Loyd said the store has established an ongoing relationship with Niles West High School, alma mater for him and Jewell, for potential workers.
“We’re always looking for people to hire,” Jewell Loyd said. “We want to make sure it’s very community-based. Everyone in Lincolnwood helped me grow up to where I am now. I have a responsibility to give back to people who gave to me. I want to continue to be a good person by paying it forward.”
Lincolnwood already honored Loyd by naming the basketball courts at Proesel Park after her in a ceremony attended by the family on May 15, 2019. The family has demonstrated a two-generation business acumen in its 37-year residency in the village.
Father Calvin Loyd ran a commercial cleaning business out of Lincolnwood, for which mother Gwen Davis-Loyd ran the marketing and sales efforts. When he wasn’t doing classwork and homework and playing basketball, Jarryd Loyd did his father’s books while still in middle school.
“I taught myself,” he said, recalling he enjoyed accounting practically more than basketball, for which he played at a high level at DePaul and in European pro leagues. Now Jarryd Loyd splits his time between hedge funds and running Smoothie King.
Jewell Loyd still enjoys talking with people about her 2020 Olympic feats in which Bird also was a teammate on the U.S. women’s team.
“Winning a gold medal can’t get any higher than it is,” she said of career accomplishments. “Of course, I’ll try again (for the 2024 team).”
With Bird’s retirement, Loyd has stepped up intoleadership of the Storm. “It’s my time,” she said. At 29, she is averaging 24.9 points per game in Seattle’s first 19 contests. She attracted even more publicity, scoring 31 points and winning game most valuable player honors in the WNBA’s recent All-Star Game in Las Vegas, according to previous reporting.
Loyd is leaving her future options open. She said she can still see herself playing at 35 if healthy and effective. Beyond basketball, she’ll likely return to the family specialty of business, and she doesn’t rule out investing in the WNBA.
“As (the women’s) game is getting better, as an investor on the business side, it’s better than pickleball. Ownership is a key goal. Women’s basketball, there’s no cap on it. It’s going to grow. There’s a cap in the NBA.”
