An Ottawa entrepreneur’s ambitious plans to expand his business now include a location in the ByWard Market.
Juice Dudez’s newest location has opened on Clarence Street and offers fresh fruit juices, smoothies, coffees and teas, as well as baked goods and chocolate-covered crepes and waffles.
Nasr Nasr, owner of Juice Dudez, opened his first location in Westboro in 2019, with a second location on Bank Street near Heron Road opening in 2022. He said he’s always wanted to be in the ByWard Market.
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“It’s the first spot that tourists come to when they visit Ottawa so we wanted to be there. When people want to have a good time without drinking alcohol, they come to Juice Dudez. So I thought, we want to show this to tourists as well, so what better place than the ByWard Market?” Nasr said.
Despite a number of businesses, mostly restaurants, closing in the Market lately, Nasr said he believes in the value of the location.
“I think it’s going to come back … I believe in the ByWard Market. I think it’s a beautiful, exciting neighbourhood and I think, with us being here and hopefully other businesses, we can definitely make a difference,” he said.
Nasr said he thinks some other local businesses failed in the Market because they catered to a tourist crowd.
“Opening tourist trap locations where people don’t really care about their customers or don’t offer the best value, I think it’s going to continue to struggle. A lot of new businesses opening around (the Market) are a lot better than the businesses they’re replacing, which will make a big difference,” he said.
When OBJ spoke Nasr in April 2024, he said he had ambitions to open four new locations in Ottawa; an aspiration that he’s making headway on.
He plans on opening a location on Innes Road in Orleans this month, with locations in Barrhaven and Kanata slated to open later this year and another “undisclosed location” planned to open by early 2026.
Nasr’s plans don’t stop there.
“We’re going to hopefully open a location in Toronto this year and the ultimate plan is to be all over the world. One store at a time, creating one smile at a time,” he said.
Nasr said his plans for worldwide expansion have been slowed by the need to go through possible franchisees with a fine-toothed comb.
After receiving close to 500 applications for franchisees, Nasr had to make a decision about who he would choose to continue his brand. He said his choice was based on whether they embodied the Juice Dudez family values.
“We’re not only about the money. We’re about the values. The Juice Dudez values are responsibility, positivity and care,” he said.
Responsibility is manifested through the attention to hygiene while working in the kitchen, positivity is embodying the spirit of hospitality and warmth, and care is about giving customers good value for their money, he said.
“We want to do everything we can to make our customers happy. I don’t want to cut corners. I don’t want to use cheaper ingredients to make more money. I care about that person that’s coming and trusting me. They pay me $10 for a drink, I don’t want to give them a $6 drink. I want to give them a $12 drink. These are values I cannot teach so if people don’t have them, we just don’t bring them into our family,” he said.
“We’re being very picky with who we bring on board. I have no problem with that. I would rather have 10 amazing stores than 100 average or below average stores,” Nasr said.
