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| Easy Breezy, Corte Madera |
Fro-yo girl here. Since it's December, it's time for my annual update of the froyo shop openings and closings in California. It was a tough year for businesses in general, but even more so for froyo shops that on proximity to schools, gyms, movie theaters, tourists, etc. With fewer large gatherings, catering could not help counter the decline in foot traffic. Most of the self-serve shops that I visited switched to full service.
While the focus of this post is on froyo shops, I also tried to track froyo not served in froyo shops but served from a soft serve machine, including restaurants, convenience stores, vending machines, cafeterias, hospitals, frozen yogurt trucks and trailers.
It's always much easier to track openings since most frozen yogurt have a social media presence and Yelp listing. However, many shops close quietly, without making any announcement. Some of the "temporary" closures will become permanent. It's even harder to tell if a shop is permanently or temporarily closed due to the pandemic.Here’s my attempt to track froyo shop openings and closings in California this year.
Froyo Shop Openings (in alphabetical order):
- Big Kahuna Frozen Yogurt, Orland
- Boba Junkie, Costa Mesa
- Easy Breezy, Corte Madera
- Go Crazy Frozen Yogurt, Concord
- Golden Spoon, Whittier
- Holsom by Yogurtland, Huntington Beach
- Kona Shaved Ice, Winters
- Menchie’s, Carlsbad, Bressi Ranch
- Menchie’s, Riverbank
- Mickey’s Yogurt, Riverside
- Otter Yogurt, Half Moon Bay
- Peachwave, Redondo Beach
- Pinkberry, Santa Clara
- Slices & Swirls, Loma Linda
- Urban Desserts, Gold River
- Twisted Tulip Frozen Yogurt, Ripon
- Yogo Farm, Los Angeles
- Yogurt Bear, Pomona
- Yogurt Creations, Center Point Mall, Oxnard
- Yogurt & Yogurt, Moreno Valley
- Yogurt Me, Covina
- Yummy Yogurt, West Covina
I found 22 openings which isn't bad considering what an off year it's been (coronavirus impact). I found 30 new openings last year and I added a few to that list after the initial publication in December 2019. Most of these were independent froyo shops. Yogurtland renamed an existing location this year but didn't open a brand new location in California. Menchie's opened two new locations in California.
Froyo Shop Permanent Closures (in alphabetical order):
- America's Cup, Costa Mesa - not sure if it's closed or not but Boba Junkie is at the same location now
- Beach N Yogurt, Avila Beach
- Berry Twist, San Rafael
- Besties Cool Treats, San Diego
- Big Kahuna, Visalia
- Big Kahuna, Clovis
- Big Kahuna, West Sacramento
- Blizz Frozen Yogurt, Sherman Oaks
- Blush Frozen Yogurt, Dublin
- Blush Frozen Yogurt, Pleasanton
- California Yogurt Factory, Foothill Ranch
- Crazy for Yogurt, Carmichael
- Cup O’Tea, Menlo Park
- Dolci Mango, Poway
- Fraiche, San Francisco Airport
- Frozen Café, San Ramon
- Go Greek Yogurt, Woodland Hills
- Golden Spoon, Glendora
- Golden Spoon, San Juan Capistrano
- Kiwiblast, Bakersfield
- Menchie’s, Alhambra
- Menchie's, Baldwin Park
- Menchie’s, Bell Gardens
- Menchie’s, Calabasas
- Menchie’s, Florence-Firestone, Los Angeles
- Menchie's, Fullerton
- Menchie’s Mandalay Village, Port Hueneme
- Menchie’s, San Jose International Airport, San Jose
- Menchie's, South El Monte
- Menchie's, Upland/Sycamore Hills
- Miyo Yogurt, Pomona
- Moyo’s Frozen Yogurt, San Francisco
- Otter Yogurt, Half Moon Bay
- Peachwave Yogurt, Calabasas
- Penguin's Frozen Yogurt, South Pasadena
- Pinkberry, Chino Hills
- Razzle Dazzle, Upland
- Red Mango, San Jose International Airport, San Jose
- Redberry, Sacramento
- The Scoop, Winters (now Kona Shaved Ice, still has froyo)
- Spoon Me Yogurt, Orange
- Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt, Ventura
- SweetFrog, Riverside
- Swirls, Camarillo
- Tops Yogurt, Elk Grove
- Tutti Frutti Grossmont Center, La Mesa
- Tutti Frutti, Oxnard
- Tutti Frutti Piedmont Ave, Oakland (reported closed on Yelp but not Google Local)
- Tutti Frutti, West Covina
- Tutti Frutti, Corona
- Tutti Frutti, Rowland Heights
- Tutti Frutti, Dublin
- Tuttimelon, Alameda
- Tuttimelon, Fairfield
- U-Swirl, Downey
- Woody's Frozen Yogurt, Buellton
- Woody’s Yogurt Place, Mill Valley
- Xtreme Frozen Yogurt, Murrieta
- Yogi Berry, Fresno
- YoGo, Sacramento
- Yogo Farm, Los Angeles
- Yogurt & More, Sierra Madre
- Yogurt Creations, Oxnard
- Yogurt Station, Monterey
- Yogurtland, California Ave., Bakersfield
- Yogurtland, Marina Del Rey
- Yogurtland, Mission Valley East, San Diego
- Yogurtland Pico & Lincoln, Santa Monica
- Yogurtland Edinger, Huntington Beach (converted into Holsom by Yogurtland)
- Yogurtland, San Ramon
- Yogurtland, Irvine - Jeffrey Rd.
- Yogurtland, Torrance Crossroads, Torrance
- Yogurtland, Temecula
- Yogurtland, Ventura
- Yogurtland, Camarillo
- Yogurtlicious, Loma Linda
- YOLO, San Anselmo
- Yoyo's Frozen Yogurt, El Cajon
I found 78 froyo shop closures in 2020. Most of the shops on the list were open a long time (none longer than Woody's Yogurt Place? maybe Penguin's?), like over 10 years. Others like Yogi Berry, Otter Yogurt, and Cup O' Tea were open for less than a year. I was a regular at Blush Dublin and Yogurtland San Ramon. There were 10 Menchie's, 11 Yogurtland, 1 Pinkberry, 1 Red Mango, 1 sweetFrog, and 7 Tutti Frutti locations on the list, so 48% of the California closures were part of a large national frozen yogurt chain.
In 2019, I found 74 froyo shop closures (68 in 2018, 99 in 2017). There were more closures than openings but considering what a tough year it's been for restaurants, the number of closures is less than I expected. I didn't track the temporary "seasonal" froyo shop closures but I know of a few. They're relatively uncommon in California but much more common this year.
I also didn't count places that serve froyo but aren't froyo shops. But I tried to track those types of locations too.
New Places Serving Froyo But Not a Froyo Shop:
- The Corral Sandwich Shop, Oakdale
- La Dolce Vita, Milpitas
- Loop Neighborhood (2 locations), Sacramento
- Loop Neighborhood, Sacramento
- Nick the Greek, Napa
- Nick the Greek, Ventura
- Nick the Greek, Union City
- Nick the Greek, Westwood, Los Angeles
- Nick the Greek, Newport Beach
And there were some closures of places that offered froyo but weren't froyo shops.
Closed, Not a Froyo Shop But Offered Froyo:
I also noted ownership change announcements.
- AL’s Deli, San Francisco
- Currying Flavors, Agoura Hills (carried Pinkberry, briefly)
- Kirin Buffet, Arcadia
- Madison Station Café, Carmichael (COVID)
- Planet Smoothie & Tasti Dlite, Santa Monica
- Slusheeland, Tarzana
- Spread Mediterranean Kitchen, Los Angeles
- Swirl Fiesta, Riverside
Not Closed, But Stopped Offering Froyo:
- Bee & Tea, San Jose
New Ownership, Froyo Shop:
- Cherry on Top, Riverside
- Cloud 9 Frozen Yogurt, San Diego
- Crazy For Yogurt, Carmichael
- Major Brain Freeze, Redlands
- Menchie’s, San Marcos
- Yoyo’s Frozen Yogurt, Rancho San Diego
Coming Soon:
- Active Culture, Marin
- Fraiche Yogurt, Stanford Hospital
- Frosted Love, Stockton
- Fro Zone, Folsom
- IKEA, San Francisco
- Menchie’s, Hanford
- Myo, Carmel
- Myo, Alamo (taken off the website)?
- Nick the Greek, San Diego
- Nick the Greek, South San Francisco
- Nick the Greek, Mountain View
- Nick the Greek, Gilroy
- Nick the Greek, Livermore (taken off the website)?
- Nick the Greek, Castro Valley
- Nick the Greek, Dublin
- Nick the Greek, Fremont
- Nick the Greek, Vallejo
- Nick the Greek, San Mateo
- Nick the Greek, San Diego
- Pinkberry, Santa Clarita
- Prinkipia Frozen Yogurt, Glendale (?)
- Toppings, Santa Rosa
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
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