Jamba Juice thinks the rent is too damn high.
The California-based smoothie retailer announced on Wednesday that it is relocating its headquarters to the Dallas, Texas suburb of Frisco, citing the high cost of living as one reason for the move.
“We explored a number of location options that would offer us competitive operating costs, a region with extensive access to skilled restaurant talent, an attractive cost of living to our current and future team members,” said CEO David A. Pace in a press release. “The State of Texas meets all of these criteria.”
Though Pace did not mention taxes as a reason for relocating, it is also true that Texas is a lower tax and regulation heavy state than California. The Tax Foundation recently ranked California 48th in its “State Business Tax Climate Index,” with Texas winning 10th place.
At the same, one of the reasons California has such a high cost of living is that it’s a very popular place to live, a dynamic that raises real estate and other prices. A recent report from the UCLA Anderson Forecast predicted that the California economy will grow faster in 2016 than the American economy overall, while a weak oil market has slowed job and economic growth in Texas.