Fruit Lovely Now Open Daily in Tuscaloosa's Midtown Village

A new spot for smoothies, fruit bowls and more opened in Tuscaloosa's Midtown Village this week after an area entrepreneur split off from a national chain to launch his own business.

Josh Giambalvo, the owner of Fruit Lovely, held a franchise agreement with Atlanta's Frutta Bowls but after running a location in Midtown for a few years, he decided to break off on his own.

The result is Fruit Lovely, a new store than opened in the same location in the shopping center earlier this week.

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Giambalvo said he and his team began revamping their concept several months ago, which allowed for changes in atmosphere in their space, which is still in Suite 436 in Midtown Village next to Edible Arrangements.

Giambalvo said the new concept is slightly different from the former company and other açaí bowl businesses in the area. The menu features three bowl bases, smoothies, flavored toasts and coffee.

Fruit Lovely also offers revamped recipes and has added menu items intended to make them stand out from similar spots in town.

"We're adding seasonal soups so right now we're trying to get soups out there and let people try a bunch of different soups," Giambalvo said. "My background is health, fitness and nutrition so we also created a grocery section that features marinades, seasonings and condiments that contain good ingredients."

Giambalvo said to prevent breaches of his former contract, the company did not make a formal announcement of the change but said customers can continue to expect quality service and quality food and drinks.

"Our customer base has been amazing," Giambalvo said. "I know that we sprung a change on them without telling them but if they enjoyed the customer service, atmosphere, -mployees, management and the overall mission of the company and the give back we've done in the community, all of that is a little better."