Clean Juice Opening at McHenry Row in Locust Point

Ruby 8 closed at 1702 Whetstone Way at Locust Point’s McHenry Row in July and, now, its former 4,200 sq. ft. retail space has been subdivided into three spaces. Passport Health recently relocated from The Foundry on Fort Ave. and opened in a 1,400 sq. ft. space on the northern end of the space, and yesterday Clean Juice announced it would open a 1,200 sq. ft. location at the southern end of of Ruby 8’s former space. An additional 1,400 sq. ft. food business will open in the middle section of the  retail space, but that business has not yet been announced.

Clean Juice is a franchise with more than 100 locations. The McHenry Row location will be owned by Maryland residents and husband and wife duo of Anthony and Kait Walters. Anthony Walters is a former National Football League safety, playing four years for the Chicago Bears. He played college football at the University of Delaware. Kait Walters played soccer for Towson University.

Clean Juice specializes in açaí bowls, smoothies, and juices. It uses 100% USDA-certified organic produce in each of its products. The açaí bowls incorporate ingredients such as almond butter and almond milk; granola and cacao powder; maple syrup; honey; kale; coconut oil; and fresh fruit including bananas, strawberries, and pineapples. Protein and regular smoothies are made with mangoes, strawberries, bananas, apples, spinach, and avocados. The assortment of juices include ingredients such as beets, celery, carrot, lemon, kale, cucumber, and orange. Other menu items include almond toast, avocado toast, the oats bowls.

Clean Juice will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 7am to 7pm daily.

The company was founded by Landon and Kat Eckles, another husband and wife team, in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2015.

The Walters are performing a gut renovation of the space which was once the dining room for Ruby 8. Walls subdividing it from the other retail spaces have been constructed, and full construction of the restaurant space and new storefront is expected to begin in the coming weeks.

The Walters are aiming for a January opening and to employ a staff of 15 to 20 people. Kait Walters will work full time at Clean Juice and Anthony Walters will continue to work at his job with NV Homes. They anticipate hiring a general manager.

“The healthy food category has become extremely popular and, as former athletes, my wife and I wanted to invest in a concept that we both passionately believed in,” said Anthony Walters in a press release. “We traveled to North Carolina to sample the products and were completely overwhelmed by the near 100% use of organic ingredients in each of the menu items. We knew immediately that we wanted to bring this concept to Maryland.”

“There exists a great deal of misconception in the smoothie and juices category as consumers don’t really know the consistency of the fruits and vegetables being used,” Kait Walters said in a press release. “Strawberries and bananas in particular absorb a great deal of pesticides and people don’t realize they are ingesting harmful chemicals. We strive for the use of 100% organic ingredients. When a product is being utilized that is not completely organic, there will be a sign in the restaurant informing customers of this fact.”

“I first became familiar with McHenry Row while working as in intern with Under Armour and believe people will visit us before and after work, for lunch and after a fitness session at the local gyms,” said Anthony Walters. “It is extremely upscale, close to major highways and has a built-in audience with the people living in the apartments.”

Anthony Walters told SouthBMore.com that he loves the active demographic in South Baltimore. Clean Juice will be two doors down from Rev Cycle Studio and across the street from running store Charm City Run, which hosts many running groups and races. He said that he is excited to be next to those types of businesses and that he sees a lot of benefit in being a storefront that will be seen by all the customers heading to Harris Teeter.

McHenry Row is a 20-acre development from 28 Walker Development with retail, office buildings, and apartment buildings. Currently under construction at McHenry Row is a Courtyard by Marriott hotel and an additional 75,000 sq. ft. office building.

“As former athletes, Anthony and Kait are intense competitors and they know the value of hard work, which will make them successful entrepreneurs,” said Mark Sapperstein of 28 Walker Development in a press release. “We believe in the long-term popularity of the smoothie and juices category and Clean Juice adds another compelling use to the McHenry Row tenant mix. Bringing one-of-a-kind concepts to the development is in line with our goal of creating a unique environment, and one that is not easily replicated. Clean Juice has a proven track record of success in other markets and represents an excellent fit in McHenry Row.”

Ruby 8 was one of four Asian-fusion places that occupied the retail space since McHenry Row opened in 2012.  The others were Red Parrot Asian Bistro, House of Asia, and Umi Sake.

Photo courtesy of 28 Walker

About the Author: Kevin Lynch

Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.