# Whence the explosion of self-serve fro-yo shops? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215 "2013-02-13T20:47:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/21 "2013-02-14T15:19:19Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The froyo franchises are cursed to fail unless they put together a solid business plan. That’s bad. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/22 "2013-02-14T15:40:14Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > That’s bad. But you get your choice of toppings. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/23 "2013-02-14T16:39:27Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Oh, is THAT what froyo means? I’ve seen it a few times, but never thought it was a portmanteau. Please. Portmantyo. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/24 "2013-02-14T16:40:51Z")
Somewhere out there, there’s one of these shops named **Yo, Dude!** We’re getting a new one locally whose name is a tortured religious acronym. _sigh._ ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/25 "2013-02-14T17:05:22Z")
I work in a town with a population of under 5,000, and in the past two years at least 4 of these places opened. I’d be shocked if even one remained in the next two years. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/26 "2013-02-14T18:34:20Z")
> [@TerpBE](#): > > I work in a town with a population of under 5,000, and in the past two years at least 4 of these places opened. I’d be shocked if even one remained in the next two years. Yeah, my small suburban town just had two open up (in the middle of winter!) within 1/2 mile of each other. Neither location has any walk-in traffic whatsoever. But what’s much worse is that they’re both within a couple of miles of one of the most popular ice cream dairies around. So in the summer, they’re just going to be vacant while everyone heads to the local sundae joint like usual. I have no idea who approved those business plans… ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/27 "2013-02-14T18:40:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Never heard of either of them. The only name in this thread I’m familiar with is TCBY, but that’s been around for ages and I don’t recall it being self-serve or anything. I’m kind of fascinated about how it’s apparently ubiquitous elsewhere and almost non-existent here. > > And is that what it’s called these days? Fro-yo? [Pinkberry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkberry) and [Red Mango](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Mango) are two of the biggest chains in this new yogurt genre. In fact, I think, though I have no cite for this, that they started the craze. They both have more than 100 outlets and, interestingly, they both started in Los Angeles by Asian-American entrepreneurs. One difference between this generation of frozen yogurt and the previous one is that this one tastes more like real yogurt and less like ice cream. It has a real tartness to it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/28 "2013-02-14T18:41:44Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Yeah, my small suburban town just had two open up (in the middle of winter!) within 1/2 mile of each other. Neither location has any walk-in traffic whatsoever. But what’s much worse is that they’re both within a couple of miles of one of the most popular ice cream dairies around. So in the summer, they’re just going to be vacant while everyone heads to the local sundae joint like usual. I have no idea who approved those business plans… The thing about the new fro-yo places is that the new frozen yogurt doesn’t taste like ice cream. It tastes like cold yogurt. (Which sounds really odd, but it’s actually quite good.) So it doesn’t compete as directly as the old places did. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/29 "2013-02-14T18:49:45Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > [Pinkberry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkberry) and [Red Mango](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Mango) are two of the biggest chains in this new yogurt genre. Red Mango isn’t self-serve, though (at least the one in Redmond isn’t). It’s just a modern TCBY with slightly stranger flavors. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/30 "2013-02-14T18:58:32Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > That’s how entrepreneurial franchising works. It’s a bit of a pyramid scheme in which no one but the equipment/package/franchise provider makes money, and which could be successful except that every strip ends up with five cupcake shops, which turn into five Italian burger joints, which turn into five self-serve froyo places… It is nothing at all like a pyramid scheme, and I know several franchise owners who make enormous amounts of money. You have several misconceptions about that business model. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/31 "2013-02-14T19:05:51Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > One difference between this generation of frozen yogurt and the previous one is that this one tastes more like real yogurt and less like ice cream. It has a real tartness to it. The reason that the old shops were named “This Can’t Be Yogurt” and “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt” is that Americans at that time didn’t want sour ice cream. They wanted something that tasted like ice cream but seemed healthier. Yogurt was just not a taste that Americans had acquired then - before TCBY and ICBIY, I had never tried regular yogurt. Maybe I was just sheltered, but I don’t think I had ever even seen any in a store. Something else that exploded around that time were bagels. When I got out of college, I would not have been able to describe what a bagel was - I knew it was some kind of jewish food, but had no idea what. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/32 "2013-02-14T19:07:27Z")
An **explosion** of fro-yo shops? Sounds messy! > [@pulykamell](#): > > I have no idea what anyone is talking about here. I’m in Chicago. What are some local places of this type? There’s _one_ of these, as far as I know (maybe two), here in Springfield: part of the [CherryBerry](http://www.cherryberryyogurtbar.com/) chain. It looks like the closest location to you is in Naperville. The one time I went there, I liked it just fine, but it seemed rather expensive for what you get, which is why I haven’t been back. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/33 "2013-02-14T19:15:05Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > It is nothing at all like a pyramid scheme, and I know several franchise owners who make enormous amounts of money. You have several misconceptions about that business model. 1. Owners of what franchises? I didn’t say franchising was a pyramid scheme; the owners of most fast-food places would strongly disagree, along with, say, the owners of most NAPA auto parts stores. 2. I said _entrepreneurial franchising_ was. This is a different model where the sponsor is typically a hotshot entrepreneur/advisor/expert who packages a sure-fire get-rich system and unloads it on as many buyers as possible as fast as he can, or something created by (typically) the manufacturer of some kind of specialty equipment - vinyl sign cutter, automatic donut-maker, froyo dispenser, etc. It tends NOT to come with an established brand name, cooperative marketing or anything but a generic business plan. The basic hoke is that if the investor buys their system/machine/package and opens up in that business, the world will flock to them and it’s E, Z, and Cheep. It’s also all but a scam, for many obvious reasons, and most such efforts go bankrupt. Especially when six of them open in the same town at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/34 "2013-02-14T19:25:12Z")
Several have popped up in this area recently, most notably several [Sweet Cece’s](http://www.sweetceces.com/) which seem to be common in the South and Southeast. There is one storefront in a local strip mall that has had, I am not joking, three _different_ froyo business in the last four years. All in exactly the same location. I can only imagine someone saying “Yes, the last two frozen yogurt businesses here failed, but my shop will be different! I’ll have gummi worms!” ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/35 "2013-02-14T19:28:33Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > 1. Owners of what franchises? I didn’t say franchising was a pyramid scheme; the owners of most fast-food places would strongly disagree, along with, say, the owners of most NAPA auto parts stores. > > 2. I said _entrepreneurial franchising_ was. This is a different model where the sponsor is typically a hotshot entrepreneur/advisor/expert who packages a sure-fire get-rich system and unloads it on as many buyers as possible as fast as he can, or something created by (typically) the manufacturer of some kind of specialty equipment - vinyl sign cutter, automatic donut-maker, froyo dispenser, etc. It tends NOT to come with an established brand name, cooperative marketing or anything but a generic business plan. The basic hoke is that if the investor buys their system/machine/package and opens up in that business, the world will flock to them and it’s E, Z, and Cheep. > > It’s also all but a scam, for many obvious reasons, and most such efforts go bankrupt. Especially when six of them open in the same town at the same time. Oh, oh, oh. Okay. I can buy that, to a certain extent. I’m still not sure I’d call it a pyramid scheme, though. Are the franchisees creating some kind of income stream by encouraging other people to open a store? It could be argued that Moe’s used the open-as-many-as-humanly-possible model. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/36 "2013-02-14T19:33:18Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Oh, oh, oh. Okay. I can buy that, to a certain extent. I’m still not sure I’d call it a pyramid scheme, though. Are the franchisees creating some kind of income stream by encouraging other people to open a store? Sometimes the model includes percentages passed up to the originator, but no, typically it’s a flat sale from originator/sponsor to shop operators. You’re right, pyramid is not the right term - substitute anything up to “scam.” Those who sell the franchise package may be sincere to a degree, but know full well it will take as much effort and capital as any other business, even with some kind of “magic machine” at its heart. Many are just a way to sell expensive, specialized machinery when the professional market is slow or saturated. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/37 "2013-02-14T19:44:12Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Sometimes the model includes percentages passed up to the originator, but no, typically it’s a flat sale from originator/sponsor to shop operators. You’re right, pyramid is not the right term - substitute anything up to “scam.” Those who sell the franchise package may be sincere to a degree, but know full well it will take as much effort and capital as any other business, even with some kind of “magic machine” at its heart. Many are just a way to sell expensive, specialized machinery when the professional market is slow or saturated. Couldn’t you say the same for pretty much any franchise? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/38 "2013-02-14T19:47:54Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > [Pinkberry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkberry) and [Red Mango](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Mango) are two of the biggest chains in this new yogurt genre. In fact, I think, though I have no cite for this, that they started the craze. They both have more than 100 outlets and, interestingly, they both started in Los Angeles by Asian-American entrepreneurs. [Sweet Frog](http://sweetfrogyogurt.com/) seems to be very successful, also, with over 100 outlets listed on their site. It’s based in Virginia, with 70+ locations just in this state (people describe other froyo shops as “like Sweet Frog”), and dozens more in other states mostly in the East and South. Founded by a Korean dude. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/39 "2013-02-14T20:13:11Z")
Hmm I’m a fan of frozen yogurt but in Houston, the only places I’ve been to were NOT self serve. Any Houstonians know of any self-serve places around? I like the idea of it. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215/40 "2013-02-14T20:17:57Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Hmm I’m a fan of frozen yogurt but in Houston, the only places I’ve been to were NOT self serve. Any Houstonians know of any self-serve places around? I like the idea of it. There’s a CherryBerry in Tomball, and TutiFruttis in Pasadena and at the Shops at Stone Park. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-the-explosion-of-self-serve-fro-yo-shops/650215.md?page=3)