Frozen Yogurt Wars Begin

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by Melissa Bailey | Aug 26, 2010 10:21 am

(21) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Business/Labor/ Economic Development, Food, Downtown

Melissa Bailey Photo On one side of High Street, fans lined up to taste the cake-batter/ tart swirl at the new Froyo World. On the other side, a more traditional competitor is already hanging up his scoop.

New Haven’s frozen yogurt wars began this month near the corner of High and Chapel Streets, near Yale’s campus. Froyo World, which boasts to be “Connecticut’s first self-serve frozen yogurt lounge,” opened up at 46 High St. on Aug. 5, according to co-owner Susan Chung (pictured).

The brightly painted store, part of the Yo-Cup franchise, is expected to be the first in a series of frozen yogurt chains to set up shop in student-rich New Haven. It’s one sign that the tart frozen yogurt craze, which has taken over the West Coast and spread to East Coast cities in the past couple of years, has made inroads in the nation’s first planned city.

Froyo World sits in a highly visible spot attached to Yale’s British Art Center, owned by Yale. Customers pull levers to squeeze out their own portion size of six flavors of frozen yogurt, then choose between 34 toppings, including fresh kiwi, sliced almonds and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. After filling ample-sized paper cups with goodies, customers pay for everything by weight, at 49 cents per ounce.

The franchise, Yo-Cup, has two stores in San Francisco. Chung said Yo-Cup is run by her relatives. She and her fiance, William Bok, looked around New Haven for a place to set up the first East-Coast store. Chung said she was attracted to Chapel Street because of its proximity to the university campus and high foot-traffic.

The new shop offers a “tart” flavor that looks pure white and tastes like Greek yogurt.

Adrienne Socci and Ben Noonan (in photo, from right) were one of many passersby to stumble across the yogurt shop Wednesday and try it out. They sprinkled Reeses Peanut Butter Cups onto a chocolate-vanilla combo.

“Really good,” they pronounced in chorus, perched at window-side stools.

Across the street, no new customers appeared in the windows of the Liberry at 45 High St., where scoops of diet ice creams and frozen yogurts have been sold for the past five years.

Peeyada Boon (pictured), who was working the counter Wednesday, said Liberry has lost 90 percent of business since Froyo World opened.

Liberry owner Robert Klinger said he recognizes Froyo is “a new thing,” and the flurry of interest may not last. But the new competition has prompted him to get out of the business, he said.

“In a week or two, we’re going to close, remodel, and then we’re going to do something else,” he said.

Klinger said the new restaurant would be “something totally different.”

Klinger said he doesn’t spite Froyo for taking away customers.

“We’re not enemies or anything,” Klinger said.

Liberry “was barely making it” anyway, Klinger conceded. “We always thought about changing it.” Froyo “pushed me to do something that I should have done a long time ago.”

Klinger bought Liberry two years ago. The spot at 45 High St. is perhaps better known in its former incarnation as a Tasti D-Lite franchise store.

On Wednesday, Liberry had five bright, tropical flavors of sorbet for sale, as well as two flavors of gelato and soft-serve yogurt and ice cream. The store offered 19 toppings, with similar options to Froyo World, but at a steeper price. The first topping at Liberry costs a dollar, whereas at Froyo all toppings are charged by weight.

Froyo offers just six options, grouped in pairs, each pair with a lever for swirling: two sorbets (mango tango and kiwi strawberry), vanilla and chocolate frozen yogurt, and tart and a sixth flavor, which rotates. All flavors are non-fat, except for the sixth, which on Wednesday was cake batter. Everything is self-serve.

“People like to control their own portions,” Froyo’s Chung explained.

The shop urges customers to “indulge”—in “healthy,” “pro-biotic” sweetness. All the yogurts have live active cultures, according to the company’s web site.

Before this month, Liberry and Ashley’s Ice Cream were the only two ice cream spots in town. (Cold Stone Creamery on Temple Street didn’t last long, and Chapel Street Sweet Shoppe has been gone for several years.)

The fact that Yale would rent to a competitor right across the street raised some eyebrows. Liberry sits right next to Starbucks in a building owned by John Wareck. Years ago, Wareck rented to Starbucks, providing a direct competitor to the Atticus Bookstore and Cafe.

Some wondered aloud this week if Froyo was Yale’s counterattack against Wareck for opening Starbucks.

“I highly doubt it,” Wareck said of the conspiracy theory.

Klinger said he’s spoken a couple of times with Bok, the new owner of Froyo.

He said he’s worried for Bok’s sake, because several frozen yogurt vendors have reportedly set their eyes on New Haven. One nationwide chain, Pinkberry, aims to set up shop here soon.

“We are looking at expanding in New Haven, but an exact location has not been confirmed as of now,” said Pinkberry spokesman Jonathan Zacks on Thursday.

Klinger, who also runs a five-year-old hot wings joint on Crown Street called S’Wings, said he’s learned a lesson: It’s a lot easier to sell hot wings in New Haven than ice cream.

“When you want ice cream, you want it in the summer,” he said, “and in the summer, no one’s around.”

Klinger was mum on what he would be selling at 45 High St. when he hangs up his ice cream scoop.

“It’s something odd”—something not currently sold in New Haven, he said. “It’ll be a home run.”

Comments

posted by: Threefifths on August 26, 2010 10:30am

Vegetarians Beware: Your Yogurt and Cheese Might Contain Animal Products.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/437423/vegetarians_beware_your_yogurt_and.html?cat=22

posted by: john on August 26, 2010 10:43am

@3/5: how on earth is your comment relevant? the story makes no mention of Froyo or Liberry espousing their vegetarianness. Most vegetarians I know do their homework, since it is incumbent upon the ones who make a different dietary choice to *choose* carefully.

posted by: davec on August 26, 2010 11:17am

Look closely at the photos. The portion on the scale is 13oz. At .49 cents an oz. that cup of fro-yo with toppings is worth $6.37 before tax. Pinkberry better be scouting locations close to campus because normal New Haveners can’t afford the stuff.

posted by: nutmeg on August 26, 2010 11:43am

what about the tcby on audubon street?

posted by: Bill on August 26, 2010 12:06pm

3/5 thanks for pointing out that milk used to make yogurt comes from an animal.

posted by: Justin on August 26, 2010 1:37pm

Pinkberry is nothing compared to self serve do it yourself place.. anything you want! If it were Pinkberry at 13 oz it would be around 10$ since there smallest cup is 5oz at $4 with no toppings! Cheap and soooo good. Their original tart is fabulous! Finally something new in New Haven!

posted by: matt on August 26, 2010 2:18pm

Give me a break, do all the commenters here have nothing better to do than come up with negative stuff to say about ANYTHING? Come on its a little yogurt shop, just read it and be happy for entrepreneurs opening a cool new business.

3/5 - find another soap box

Dave - please stop trying to make everything some kind of gown/town class warfare. I am a normal New Haven resident with a normal job, and if I wanted to splurge I could certainly handle $6. Not that I would need to, since it is self serve , and I could just not be a pig. As you point out that is 13 oz, look at the first picture, it’s a huge portion. 13oz is almost a pound, an ice cream cone from McDonald’s is only 3oz.

posted by: Bruce on August 26, 2010 2:20pm

davec, that’s hard to say without seeing the decimal. It could be 4.30 oz.

posted by: Pedro on August 26, 2010 2:32pm

Pinkberry is coming to New Haven?? WHERE?

[Editor’s note: I updated the story w/ comment from Pinkberry. MB]

posted by: Custard Freak on August 26, 2010 2:55pm

Bring on Frozen Custard a la Madison, WI. Creamy, Smooth, Tangy, Rich, AMAZING! Other than Ashley’s (I’m a local loyalist) - there’e nothing better!!

posted by: Threefifths on August 26, 2010 4:34pm

posted by: john on August 26, 2010 11:43am
@3/5: how on earth is your comment relevant? the story makes no mention of Froyo or Liberry espousing their vegetarianness. Most vegetarians I know do their homework, since it is incumbent upon the ones who make a different dietary choice to *choose* carefully.

My comment is relevant.All I said was Vegetarians Beware: Your Yogurt and Cheese Might Contain Animal Products.So all i did was inform the Vegetarian community.

posted by: matt on August 26, 2010 3:18pm
Give me a break, do all the commenters here have nothing better to do than come up with negative stuff to say about ANYTHING? Come on its a little yogurt shop, just read it and be happy for entrepreneurs opening a cool new business

Who are you to say what is negative stuff to say about ANYTHING.You have you opinion and we the people who post our comments have our’s Don’t like some one comment,Don’t read it.

3/5 - find another soap box
You first

posted by: Citizen on August 26, 2010 4:54pm

I’m excited to see what will replace the Liberry! I admit - I prefer Froyo-World to Liberry any day. Looking forward to Pinkberry opening!

posted by: Liz on August 26, 2010 6:40pm

Cheer up, Liberry. I, for one, am excited to see what your new concept will be. New Haven has too few tiny one-food takeout joints and there are lots of possibilities. How about cream puffs, macarons, rice pudding, waffles, frites, Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, olives or dumplings? Also, although I personally avoid the stuff, I’m pretty sure you could become rich opening the first all-bacon restaurant.

In spirit of neighborliness, here is some friendly unsolicited advice: First, sterile white walls, fluorescent lights and industrial-looking food-dispensing contraptions do not a welcoming interior make. Also, the name of a business should not make potential customers sound like they have a speech impediment.

Good luck!

posted by: Nan on August 26, 2010 8:01pm

davec,
16 oz = 1 pound. Who eats almost a pound of yogurt at one time? Isn’t that why Americans are getting too fat? Reduce the size of your portion. That will reduce the cost of your yogurt. Lose some weight, or at least don’t gain more. Enjoy life!

posted by: Westville J on August 26, 2010 9:02pm

Bring icecream or Froyo to Westville!!!!! There is an empty space next to the Westville Market. Tons of kids and families who live there EVEN IN THE SUMMER!!!! I know tons of people who go to Westville Market and just buy prepackaged ice cream. And that Ice Cream truck seems to do well. How about it?!

posted by: skittles on August 27, 2010 8:15am

nutmeg, There isnt a TCBY in new haven…

posted by: robn on August 27, 2010 9:23am

Whats Rob Klinger putting in!?
Burrittos?
Dim Sum?
Juice Bar?
Pierogis?
Haute Cusine?
Nose to Tail?
The suspense is killing me.

posted by: mrs.dwight on August 27, 2010 11:31am

Liberry’s problems are high prices, stale product, lousy customer service and a “moving out” ambiance.

But a small amount of fro-yo goes a long way and can be fairly healthy. Good luck to Froyo World!!

posted by: MRM on August 30, 2010 7:34am

I went to a similar place in NYC this past weekend, which charged the same amount per ounce. The cost ended up being somewhere between 4 and 5 dollars per bowl. The experience was kind of fun, and creating your own frozen yogurt creation made for a pretty positive, as well as kid-friendly time. My only caveats:

1. The one I went to only had pretty large (about the size on the scale) and really large sized cups, so the amount was kind of deceiving, especially for kids who wanted the entire thing filled. Maybe this is not a problem at Froyo in NH though.

2. Watch the toppings! Some were pretty light (coconut, mini-chips, marshmallows, etc.), but throw on some pineapple or mango and watch your yogurt weight start to go up.

I agree about Liberry though, I kind of felt as though I had accidentally walked into a industrial kitchen when I went there.

posted by: Mister Jones on August 31, 2010 12:20pm

Wow, Clark’s Dairy is so quickly erased from memory: “Before this month, Liberry and Ashley’s Ice Cream were the only two ice cream spots in town. (Cold Stone Creamery on Temple Street didn’t last long, and Chapel Street Sweet Shoppe has been gone for several years.)” How do you remember Chapel Sweet Shoppe but not Clark’s? When Clark’s Dairy closed they said they were moving their ice cream next door to Clark’s Pizza. And Yorkside also serves up Hershey’s ice cream.

posted by: Penny on September 2, 2010 5:16pm

I’m looking forward to some yummy frozen yogurt with fresh fruit at Froyo. However, Ashley’s coffee oreo is the best ice cream. ever. and ... don’t forget ices and gelato at Libby’s!

Love,

New Haven’s Frozen Sweet Tooth

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