Interesting – it seems to be based around a gay Cracker Barrel look, not a gay Jetsons look.
And run on Christian principles - this is the one I mentioned as having a tortured acronym for a name. Frog stands for Fully Rely On God.
Nailed it. Well, almost.
We were at the Sysco food service show last year and there was a company selling turnkey self-serve frozen yogurt setups. It was NOT a franchise. You buy the equipment and startup supplies from them, but you don’t have to pay them fees or use their name or buy consumables exclusively from them.
In this case, no income stream, just a big hunk of cash for the machines and such.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:43, topic:650215”]
We were at the Sysco food service show last year and there was a company selling turnkey self-serve frozen yogurt setups. It was NOT a franchise. You buy the equipment and startup supplies from them, but you don’t have to pay them fees or use their name or buy consumables exclusively from them.
[/quote]
It’s been common for a long time - take an industrial machine and remodel/repackage it into something that seems like a turnkey anchor.
[ul]
[li]One-hour photo processing[/li][li]Vinyl sign cutters[/li][li]Silk-screen and embroidery machines[/li][li]Grand-format printers[/li][li]Other kinds of sign-making machinery[/li][/ul]
Not a one came with anything but instructions for the machine and a pamphlet on how to make millions with it.
Oops, wrong thread. Derp. Sorry.
The toppings contain potassium benzoate. That’s bad.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:43, topic:650215”]
We were at the Sysco food service show last year and there was a company selling turnkey self-serve frozen yogurt setups.
[/QUOTE]
Aha… now we’ve got a sort-of definitive answer. Thanks for the info!
Yes, and apparently it bothers a few people who are allergic to other people’s religion. I don’t get it.
So the place has a couple signs and shirts that reference God (they also have God-free shirts), but if you weren’t paying attention you might not notice. They are not like Chick-fil-A in supporting anti-gay or similar groups (I know a gay group in Richmond, where SF started, that are fans). Their charitable contributions have been unimpeachable as far as I’ve heard, mainly oriented toward helping kids in various bad situations.
My favorite Chinese restaurant is run by Falun Gong adherents. They have a sign and some pamphlets in the vestibule. I don’t see why anyone should object to that, either.
I will say this about Sweet Frog, though: get one of the no-sugar-added yogurt flavors. The sweetened ones, with sweet toppings added, are really sweet. But I couldn’t taste the God either way.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:43, topic:650215”]
We were at the Sysco food service show last year and there was a company selling turnkey self-serve frozen yogurt setups.
[/QUOTE]
Just last year, this would seem to be a response to the boom.
It doesn’t bother me on any deep level, but I have a belief evolved from experience that religion and business don’t mix well. There’s a difference between businesses run by deeply religious people who may follow their teachings in running it but don’t make any issue of it, and those who seem to use religion as a smoke screen for crappy business practices. In between are ones like this, where the religious tie neither adds anything nor seems to mean much… but they make so much of it that it makes me suspicious. I wonder how much ineptitude and hassle I will be expected to put up with because, y’know, they’re a Christian Business?
And the ridiculously labored name grates on me.
Quite likely.
Although I don’t know whether it was a new business. This was the first time I had noticed them. It’s a pretty big show and they could well have exhibited before without me noticing.
Can I go now?
Here’s the one in our area:
It’s not cheap by any means, but the kids like it and frankly I don’t mind a bowl of frozen yogurt with all sorts of different chocolate accessories thrown over the top myself. It’s better than a Blizzard at DQ, so why not?
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:43, topic:650215”]
Nailed it. Well, almost.
We were at the Sysco food service show last year and there was a company selling turnkey self-serve frozen yogurt setups. It was NOT a franchise. You buy the equipment and startup supplies from them, but you don’t have to pay them fees or use their name or buy consumables exclusively from them.
In this case, no income stream, just a big hunk of cash for the machines and such.
[/QUOTE]
But the franchisees aren’t getting any of that money.
Ha! My friend was using our computer for jobhunting and yelled out “Pinkberry’s a strip club, right?” I told her I didn’t know.
Mystery finally solved.
ETA: I guess Red Mango could work for that too.
I don’t understand what you’re saying (or asking).
As the material you quoted said, this outfit was not a franchise, so there are no franchisees. I even capitalized the word “not” and put asterisks next to it to make that point really clear.
How does the name Sweet Fully Rely On God make any goddamn sense whatsoever? I’d boycott them on The dumb name alone.
(I agree that injecting religion into a business doesn’t necessarily make me want to avoid them, but it sure doesn’t help!)
In my town, we have two of these shops right next to each other.
No, not separated by a mile or a couple of blocks. They are literally RIGHT NEXT to each other. Next door neighbors. Pedestrians are compelled to do double-takes and say, “Oh, this has to be a joke, right?” But it’s real!
One of them is the already mentioned Sweet Frog. But their products and pricing, as far as I can tell, are very similar. They have been co-existing now for almost a year. How they haven’t run each other out of business yet, I don’t know.
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:55, topic:650215”]
I don’t understand what you’re saying (or asking).
As the material you quoted said, this outfit was not a franchise, so there are no franchisees. I even capitalized the word “not” and put asterisks next to it to make that point really clear.
[/QUOTE]
I have no idea what my post means. I don’t even remember posting it. Looking at the date stamp, I was probably half asleep.
Sorry. I’m wondering if I should have quoted a different post, or something.
ETA: I think what I meant was that the money in your scenario went to the operation selling the equipment. My original question about income streams referred to some income going to the actual shop owners, which would be necessary to think of it as a pyramid scheme.
The acronym is bad, no argument. 
But I’m convinced that in many places businesses identifying as Christian is good marketing; it draws more customers than it deters.
I already copped to misusing ‘pyramid’ in this context. It’s more of a shuck on the packager/pseudo-franchise seller.
I won’t argue the opinion, but in my experience with small business branding and marketing, anything that smacks of religious or political affiliation tends to draw one market demographic and deter others. Unless there are a lot of ‘active’ Christians in the market area, it’s going to be a detriment.
The problem is that when businesses make a religious or political identification, it can take a while to see the downside. You get a more selected customer base that seems enthusiastic, but it is probably a fraction of those you could pull in with a neutral identification. Real case: an auto parts store that branded itself with an emphasis on German parts (VW and Porsche) even though they were as full-spectrum as any NAPA or AutoZone. They got lots of very enthused customers with VWs or Porsches, but very little else. After rebranding, they did five times the business.
If you’re non-religious, areligious or not of the professed religion, religious identification in a business name is going to steer you elsewhere even if it’s not a matter of overt prejudice or dislike.