After one visit to Yogurtland, customers are hooked, and no one knows it better than Hillsborough residents Michael and Alisha Haines, who, on June 8, opened the first Yogurtland location on the East Coast.
Yogurtland is a self-serve frozen yogurt franchise that was started in California about four years ago. There are more than 135 locations, and now the Hamilton Marketplace is one of them.
Michael and Alisha Haines co-own the store with Alisha’s parents, John and Linda Friend. The Friends had known the popularity of Yogurtland when they lived in southern California, and after the Haines tasted it, the families agreed it was the perfect business to take back to New Jersey.
The store features 16 flavors and 51 toppings. Its serving bowls are all the same size, and customers may fill them with as little or as much yogurt and toppings as they desire. The price is determined by weight at 39 cents per ounce.
And its flavors are anything but traditional.
“One thing you won’t see at Yogurtland is plain vanilla, strawberry and chocolate,” Haines said. “We have red velvet cake, cinnamon graham cracker, devil’s food cupcake batter, tarts: various flavors that people can’t get at a normal ice cream store.”
Other flavors include cheesecake, Kona coffee blend, mango and toasted coconut.
The staff diligently tends to the customers as well as maintaining the store’s cleanliness amid the swarms of kids, parents, families and friends lined up to sample the flavors.
“Our tolerance for substandard quality is zero,” Haines said.
After just a week of business, Michael and Alisha had already gotten to know some of the customers who have returned day after day; even some Yogurtland employees return for a treat after their shifts.
“I think we had our first repeat customer after, maybe, four hours. We have people who come back twice in a day,” Alisha Haines said.
The owners don’t plan to stop with the Hamilton Yogurtland location, either. When the Haines and Friends decided to go into business, they planned to establish the Yogurtland brand throughout the East coast.
“It could’ve been fun to do one, but knowing the desire we have for success and how much fun this is, we knew we’d want to do more,” Haines said.
Haines said their target is to open two locations this year, three in 2012, and three to four in 2013.
For Michael and Alisha, the most joyful part of owning the business is the fun they have and the happiness they see.
“It’s a fun place to be. We’ve been there 10, 12, 15 hours, and when you leave, your feet hurt, but other than that, the time goes by like this,” Alisha Haines said with a snap. “It’s a ball.”
Michael said Yogurtland has been overwhelmed and thankful for the response from the Hamilton community. Each night since the store’s opening, a line stretches out the door and past several other neighboring stores, regardless of thunderstorms, heat or late hours.
“When it’s over every night, we just look at each other and say, ‘Pinch us,’” Haines said.
Yogurtland is located in the Hamilton Marketplace at 141 Marketplace Blvd. in Hamilton, and is open Sunday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, call the store at (609) 585-3567. On the Web: yogurt-land.com
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