Former Penn State wrestler David Taylor to expand juice business with State College location
Gray’s Woods-located K2 Roots plans to open a second location and storefront in downtown State College this summer, in the former Salúd Juicery location. The business was founded in 2017 by former Penn State wrestler and current competitive wrestler David Taylor and wife Kendra, when the two discovered juicing while making changes to their diets. After noticing “a huge difference” in their health, David said they began spreading the word to friends.
“Then, we just decided, let’s make a business out of this,” he said. “We rented a kitchen at Gray’s Woods Church until we grew out of that and then we have a store in Gray’s Woods that’s been open since 2018. We’ve always wanted to be downtown, but prior to COVID, it was difficult. Then, something became available and now we have the opportunity to go downtown and spread health and wellness to a lot more people.”
The new location at 109 S. Fraser St., which will take over as the brand’s flagship, will include an expanded juice menu and new offerings like grab-and-go snacks.
“We’ll offer smoothies, smoothie bowls, grab-and-go and healthy snacks, breakfast options, coffee and our juice, which will be our mainstay, but we’ll have a much more expanded menu downtown and a lot more options,” David said.
He and Kendra plan to partner with local brands and farmers to source ingredients, and some of the healthy grab-and-go snack and dessert options will be sourced from the local and keto-friendly Marie Lane Bakery.
Currently, K2 Roots offers a series of staple juices that are always available, alongside rotating seasonal juices. The brand also offers several varieties of green juices, to fit varying preferences.
“’Flourish’ is probably our most popular green juice. ... Kendra has done an amazing job of blending the ingredients so that ‘Flourish’ is our sweetest green,” David said. “’Resistance’ is our second-most popular juice and it has an orange base. You can’t go wrong with either of those options.”
But when he’s enjoying the products for himself?
“My favorite is the ‘Charge.’ It’s our least sweet green. For me and my training and career, I want to get as much greens as possible,” he said. “Throughout the day, being busy, it’s hard to fulfill your greens needs on a daily basis. I can drink that Charge and be set for the day.”
While opening a secondary location is a challenge for any entrepreneur, David and Kendra will have additional life milestones adding to the challenge, as they expect their second child and as David will head off to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
“It’s definitely difficult,” David said, “but ... Kendra and I are pretty focused individuals and health and nutrition are a big priority to us. We’ve integrated it into our lives on a daily basis. We put time into planning and being prepared. ... We have a lot going on, but the opportunity to be able to spread the word (about juicing) to a lot more people is really exciting.”
He thinks the new location will be able to help them reach more people and fill a void in the community.
“For myself, being in this community since 2009, there hasn’t been what we’re going to offer — a truly nutritious product from top to bottom,” David said. “Everything we offer will be good for you. We’re also sourcing from local businesses. We want to support local businesses with what we’re offering and then, as a local business, we hope people will want to support us as well.”
In addition to the Gray’s Woods location and upcoming downtown State College location, K2 Roots also offers its products via delivery and at Rothrock Coffee. David and Kendra are planning for a soft opening of the new location in mid-June, with a full opening in early or mid-July, so as to be up and running at full capacity by the time Penn State students return for the fall 2021 semester.
Learn more about K2 Roots at www.k2roots.com.
This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 7:00 AM.