History of Yogurt Creations, Largest Froyo Chain Central Coast of California

 

Yogurt Creations, Atascadero, 2009

Fro-yo girl here. John Bolton opened the first Yogurt Creations in Atascadero in 2003. At the time, it may have been the only froyo shop in Atascadero, a smaller Central Coast city with a population under 30,000, though there were froyo shops in San Luis Obispo and other cities along the Central Coast of California. The next Yogurt Creations opened in Arroyo Grande, followed by San Luis Obispo. By 2014, there were seven Yogurt Creations branches along the Central Coast. 

Ownership changed in late 2019 and then again in January 2020. The new owners also purchased Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt in Oxnard, California and converted it into a Yogurt Creations. Yogurt Creations opened in Oxnard in late 2020 and closed later in 2020. They also announced plans to open in Pismo Beach, though I don’t think that location ever opened.

The SBA PPP loan of $191,450.00 in January 2021 kept Yogurt Creations afloat for a few months. In 2021, four locations closed. The last store, Santa Maria, closed in January 2022. The Santa Maria store was in the news because when it closed, the owners still owed employees outstanding wages. This was probably the case at other locations, e.g., Arroyo Grande, where the owners were evicted.

I remember visiting the Atascadero, downtown SLO, Arroyo Grande, Santa Maria, and Paso Robles locations. 

Yogurt Creations Locations (listed by opening date, from oldest to newest)

• Atascadero, 7341 El Camino Real, was the original location. The store opened in 2003 and closed 2021.
• Arroyo Grande, 1540 E Grand Ave, opened in 2008. The owners were evicted in September 2021.
• San Luis Obispo, 1075 Court St # 130, opened in the downtown area in 2008 and closed in 2017.
• Santa Maria, 2415 S Broadway, opened in 2008 and closed in January 2022. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony in January 2020 when ownership changed. 
• Paso Robles, 104 Niblick Rd, opened in 2010 and closed in 2021. 
• Lompoc, 1620 N H St, opened in 2011 and closed in 2021.
• San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly, 1 Grand Ave Bldg 65, RM 121, opened in 2013 on campus in the Julian A. McPhee University Union I’m not sure when it closed. 
• A mobile unit (trailer) may have opened in 2019 and was based in Atascadero.
• Oxnard, 2819 Saviers Rd, took over the Tutti Frutti space during 2020. Tutti Frutti closed due to the coronavirus. Yogurt Creations was only open for a few months in 2020 before closing for good.
• Pismo Beach was announced but never opened

Santa Maria and Lompoc no longer have any froyo shops. RIP, Yogurt Creations.

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.

Froyo Void in Central Coast: Santa Maria

 

Ozzie's Premium Yogurt in Santa Maria, Source: Yelp

Fro-yo girl here. Santa Maria, California no longer has a froyo shop, the last one closed sometime in 2022. It was either Menchie’s or Yogurt Creations.

Santa Maria on California’s Central Coast has a population of 109,711 (2021) and is known for its wineries and BBQ. It’s the largest city, in terms of population, in Santa Barbara County. Yes, it’s even bigger than Santa Barbara.

TNT’s was the oldest froyo shop in Santa Maria that we could find. They claim to have been established in 1977 but ownership changed a few times and the 1977 date might not refer to Santa Maria (they had multiple locations).

Former Froyo Shops

• Crème De La Ice Cream, 1102 E Clark Ave Ste 110, took over the TNT’s space in 2019. They offered hand-crafted ice cream and soft serve froyo. The shop closed in 2021.
• Euro Yogurt Café, 319 Town Center West, became Woody’s Yogurt Café but I’m not sure when (a long time ago).
• Menchie’s, 2202 S Bradley Rd #1348, aka known as Menchie’s Crossroads at Santa Maria, first opened in December 2014. The last review was in 2022. The last Instagram post was made in February 2019 but it seems to have closed in 2022.
• Ozzie’s Premium Yogurt & Gelato, 3420 Orcutt Rd Ste 106, was in business from 2014 – 2017. Ozzie’s offered eighteen self-serve flavors a day, the most in Santa Maria. They also served boba tea, smoothies, and frappes.
• TNT’s, 1102 E Clark Ave Ste 110, had several locations along the Central Coast. TNT’s offered counter-serve ice cream, froyo, sundaes, smoothies, and shakes. According to the business profile, TNT’s was established in 1977 but I’m unsure of the original location. This location became Crème De La Ice Cream in 2019.
• TNT’s, 560 E Betteravia Rd was first reviewed in 2010 and the last review in 2013.
• Woody’s Yogurt Café, 319 Town Center West, is now Woody’s Boba Drinks. They probably stopped serving froyo around 2012. There was a Woody’s Yogurt in Buellton as well (now closed).
• Yogurt Creations, 2415 S Broadway, seems to have opened in 2008 and closed in January 2022. Yogurt Creations was the largest Central Coast self-serve froyo chain. There was a ribbon cutting in January 2020, due to a change in ownership. When Yogurt Creations closed, they owed employees unpaid wages.

Did I miss any Santa Maria froyo shops? Let me know.

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.

Central Coast Froyo: Yogurt Creations Has Closed in San Luis Obispo

Fro-yo girl here. San Luis Obispo, one of the largest cities on the Central Coast, has been a hotbed of froyo shop activity. Years before cities like Santa Maria had froyo, SLO had multiple frozen yogurt shops like Bali’s, Country Culture and Froggie’s. Bali’s had self-serve froyo years before anyone else in the area.

As froyo took off, other shops opened, like Yogurt Creations (the first of the newer self-serve froyo shops), Dlish, Teaberry, Snofari and Yogurtland. Many of these shops were very close to each other. Older shops closed, including Bali’s in 2015.

Yogurt Creations opened in downtown SLO in 2008. I visited a few months after it opened. I noticed that they only had one tart flavor at the time. Yogurt Creations became the dominant player in the area, with locations in Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Atascadero and at Cal Poly. I was able to try Bali's before it closed and I preferred Bali's to Yogurt Creations.

The Yogurt Creations location in downtown SLO recently closed. It was a great location but also very close to Teaberry and Yogurtland. There is considerably less froyo in downtown SLO now but more froyo in the Central Coast area.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOGURT CREATIONS: 1075 Court St., Ste. 130, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

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.

Future Fro-yo Shop Picture: Yogurtland San Luis Obispo

Fro-yo girl here. San Luis Obispo/the Central Coast is getting its first Yogurtland. The windows were papered over so I couldn’t see how much progress had been made inside. It’s downtown, directly across the street from Bali’s Yogurt and also very close to Teaberry and Yogurt Creations. The location was previously occupied by H & G Clothing.

The first Central Coast Menchie's opened in Santa Maria on December 18, 2014.

* YOGURTLAND SAN LUIS OBISPO: 956 Higuera St., San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

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.

Santa Maria: Fro-yo Mission Impossible

Fro-yo girl here. I think I've been to every fro-yo shop in Santa Maria, a town of 91,972 inhabitants located in Santa Barbara County. Yelp lists Yogurt Creations, Euro Yogurt Cafe, TnT's and Lee's Frozen Yogurt. Lee's either has the wrong address or it doesn't exist. I found the address and it's someone's house (didn't ring the doorbell but I did look for a fro-yo sign even though it seemed highly improbable that someone could operate a fro-yo shop from their home (zoning laws). Euro Yogurt Cafe is now Woody's Yogurt Cafe and they didn't have fro-yo. Well, they had one fro-yo machine and it was out of order.



Yogurt Creations and TnT's both have multiple locations in Central Coast. YC is a self-serve fro-yo only format, while TnT's has ice cream, fro-yo, sundaes, smoothies and shakes. YC has the occasional tart flavor (but most flavors are sweet). TnT's apparently has tart fro-yo or is about to offer it due to popular demand. YC has mochi balls and TnT's doesn't. I like them about the same but I think the Central Coast could use some better fro-yo. Or maybe people out there just don't appreciate tart fro-yo?

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* LEE'S FROZEN YOGURT: 824 Stansbury Dr, Santa Maria, CA
* EURO YOGURT CAFE (now WOODY'S): 319 Town Center West, Santa Maria, CA
* TNT's: 1102 E Clark Ave Ste 110, Santa Maria, CA
* YOGURT CREATIONS: 2415 S Broadway, Santa Maria, CA