Sibs seek to Sprinkles area with yogurt - Portland Business Journal:

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Sprinkles, as the shopds will be known, has signed leases for storesz inCherry Hill, University City, West Chestert and Malvern. Frozen yogurg shops had a boom and bust in the earlg1990s — “Seinfeld” even had an episode about it but have made a comeback with vibrant hangouts that are giving coffee chainws an unexpected competitor in Southern California. “It’s definitelu a craze out there,” said Matt Mealey, 24, a Jenkintowj native who is starting Sprinkles with his sisterrRyan Mealey, 27, and researched the retail concepgt in several trips west. “These places are packe all the time. At a couple of we saw these massive lines.
They were very successful. We reallh studied the concept of frozeh yogurtin California.” “The places were Frozen yogurt places were popping up Ryan added. Cherry Hill will be the first opening June 19 at TownPlace at GardejState Park. In they’ll open a site at 3606 Chestnut St., near the A West Chester site is planneffor September, at 22 S. High St., and a Malvernn location is slated for December at Worthington Town a shopping centerunder construction. They hope to open four more storesdnext year. The pair are following a legacy of siblinhbusiness owners. Their father, Dan operates Mealey’s Furniture with his brother Kevin.
based in Warminster, has five stored and was started by Jerry Ryanand Matt’s grandfather. Ryan is and will remainb vice president of merchandising for the furniture Both were raised ina retail, entrepreneuriaol environment. “We have that entrepreneurial spirit — my grandfather, my my brother and I. We’rew just bred that way. We thoughtg this would be a great idea for thePhilly region,” said Ryan, a 2004 graduate of . “kI always had a passion for starting myown business,” said Matt, who graduateed from Pennsylvania State University in 2007 and earnesd an MBA from Templw University this year.
“I wanted to find ‘thd next big thing,’ something that’s going to be a big To start Sprinkles, the siblings pooled their savings, but their dad is financing most ofthe front-ende costs, allowing them to sidestep bank Matt said. In researching yogurt shopds inLos Angeles, they focuse d their attention on two in particular: Los Angeles-based Pinkberryg and Anaheim, Calif.-based Yogurtland. Pinkberry started in 2005 with a busy cornerf store in West a location whose steady customers dubbes it Crackberry for its addictive Yogurtland has hadsimilar success, and now has locations in six state and Japan. “We took the best of The color scheme.
We looked at the whose yogurtwas better, which toppings were best,” said To emulate the West Coast look, they hired a San Dieglo designer, Trio Display. As for the frozen the Mealeys will use a product called which is producedby Portland, Ore.-based YoCream is a premium yogurg with half the calories of high-enc ice cream; most flavors are nonfayt or low-fat. A similar concept, Yogurt, opener in September at 416 South St. Unlike ice cream shops, wherse servers scoop the product, following the West Coast trend, will offer self-serve. Sprinkles stores will have eight machines dispensing 16 flavors offrozen yogurt.
Customers will take a cup or awafflw bowl, fill it with as much yogurtr and toppings as they can put in the bowl and pay 45 centsa an ounce. Flavors of frozen yogurt will includoriginal tart, classic green tea tart, snickerdoodle dandy, “krazy and others. In Cherry Hill, the store will be 1,200 square feet, with seating for 15 customersand WiFi. It will have 20 Across California, many ice cream shops have been replaced with frozenjyogurt shops, which in turn are stealing some of the traditiona Starbucks crowd. “We definitely feel like, especiallhy at college campuses, people will come in to eat, brint their laptop, hang out,” Ryan said.