The Pinkberry frozen yogurt shop in Clarendon (2930 Clarendon Blvd) reopened yesterday under new management.
The California-based froyo chain closed its only Arlington location last December after its regional franchise owner filed for bankruptcy. The storefront, along with all the other locations in the D.C. area, was sold to a new franchisee at auction, according to store employees.
This afternoon, employees were restocking the shelves, but serving cups of chocolate hazelnut and cinnamon churro flavors, among others. Pinkberry rejoins FrozenYo in Rosslyn and Crystal City, Iceberry in Rosslyn, Menchie’s on Columbia Pike and Tutti Frutti in the Lee-Harrison Shopping Center in Arlington’s frozen yogurt shop inventory.
Arlington’s dwindling frozen yogurt market will get a boost sometime soon: the Pinkberry in Clarendon appears set to reopen.
The shop closed this winter when its franchise owner, which operated a handful of Pinkberry locations in the D.C. area, filed for bankruptcy. It was put up for auction and has been laying dormant ever since, with the frozen yogurt machines, cups and furniture all in place on the inside.
Last month, the shop started to show signs of life. A “Now Hiring” sign was posted, announcing the shop was looking for workers and managers, and two signs on the doors were posted, saying simply “Swirling Soon!”
There’s no indication of when the shop will reopen, or if a new franchisee will own it or the California-based Pinkberry corporation. A message to the email address listed on the “now hiring” sign was not immediately returned.
The FroZenYo in Ballston, which has been closed all winter to await the return of warm weather, now appears likely to not reopen at all.
The FroZenYo in Crystal City (2231 Crystal Drive) reopened this week, according to the D.C.-based company’s Facebook page. On that same page, the company posted in a comment that the Ballston location is likely closed.
“Unfortunately it doesn’t look like we will be reopening the Ballston store this year, sorry about that,” the comment reads.
On FroZenYo’s website, the Ballston store is no longer listed — the Crystal City and Rosslyn locations are now the only branches the company claims in Virginia.
The Ballston FroZenYo store opened in 2012.
The Pinkberry in Clarendon has been closed for well over a month, with all the equipment inside sitting, waiting, for someone to use it and serve frozen yogurt again.
That day could soon be coming. Pinkberry’s franchise owner, who also owns six other Pinkberry stores in the D.C. area, has declared for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and his stores — including the one at 2930 Clarendon Blvd — are up for auction, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Anyone who wins the bid would have to renegotiate a lease with the building’s landlord and execute a franchise agreement with the California-based froyo chain, the WBJ reports. The chain is hoping to reopen those locations, and the call for bids for the assets valued at $769,000 ends Feb. 9.
Pinkberry’s temporary closure has led to an unexpected frozen yogurt desert in Clarendon. Nicecream Factory is still open and serving their fresh-made ice cream, but after Red Mango closed in 2013, the closest frozen yogurt shops are IceBerry in Rosslyn and FroZenYo in Ballston.
Pinkberry opened in the summer of 2011.
Hat tip to Peter Golkin
Arlington Loses Lowest Unemployment Crown — Arlington’s years-long streak of having the lowest unemployment rate in Virginia has ended. In November Falls Church had the lowest jobless rate, at 3 percent, to 3.1 percent for Arlington. Statewide, Virginia’s unemployment rate fell from 4.8 percent in October to 4.5 percent in November. [InsideNova]
Arlington Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking — Arlington resident Anthony Tatum, 36, has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and other related crimes, according to federal prosecutors.Tatum and a co-conspirator were accused of distributing cocaine and heroin, primarily in Maryland. Tatum, who agreed to forfeit $108 million in cash, vehicles, jewelry and other items, reportedly lived in a Pentagon City apartment building. [Patch]
Pinkberry to Close? — The future of Arlington’s Pinkberry frozen yogurt store is uncertain. The local Pinkberry franchisee has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. The franchisee, which has stores in D.C., National Harbor, Clarendon and elsewhere in Northern Virginia, cited debts of more than $1.2 million in the filing. Those debts include $44,121 in back taxes owed to Arlington County. [Washington Business Journal]
Wardian Sets New Record — Arlington resident Michael Wardian, 40, has set a new world record for the fastest indoor 50K. Wardian covered the distance in 3:06:07 at a 200-meter indoor track in Hagerstown, Md. That shatters his former world record, of 3:12:13, set at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center in Arlington. [Herald-Mail]
Arlington Native Releases Music Video — Arlington-born rapper C-Luv has released a new music video for his track “Grind.” The video features scenes shot around Arlington, including in a skatepark, Wakefield High School and in the Nauck neighborhood. [YouTube – NSFW]
Flickr pool photo by Dennis Dimick
The Red Mango frozen yogurt shop in Clarendon has closed.
We’re told the store’s last day was Friday. The sign has been removed and the interior has since been almost completely emptied out. Workers could be seen changing the locks today.
Red Mango opened at 2831 Clarendon Blvd on May 21, 2010. It was the first store of its kind to open in Arlington during the most recent frozen yogurt craze. A competitor, Pinkberry, opened one block away in 2011. It remains in business.
The franchisees of the Clarendon Red Mango location could not be reached for comment.
(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) It’s been promised for more than a year, but the new Fro.Zen.Yo in Rosslyn is finally ready to begin serving up frozen treats next week.
Although the announcement of the shop’s arrival in the old “News and Necessities” space at 1735 N. Lynn Street came in April of last year and it hoped to open last summer, Fro.Zen.Yo will now open on Wednesday, June 12.
Co-owner Gary Bobcek became involved with this franchise location about six months ago and said although things haven’t always gone as expected, he is excited to finally be able to serve the public.
“It posed a few challenges but thanks to the great team we have we were able to work around those to get our store open,” he said.
Bobcek, who lives in Alexandria, said he used to work in Georgetown and has spent a lot of time in Rosslyn.
“It’s a great environment to have a business. I had the opportunity to have a business here and it’s something I took advantage of,” he said. “We’re very pleased to be here in the area and to be able to offer a great product. We look forward to becoming a part of the community.”
We’re told Bobcek just informed members of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District of the opening date, and the BID is “very excited” about the self-serve frozen yogurt shop’s arrival.
The Rosslyn Fro.Zen.Yo will be offering customers free samples during its grand opening on Wednesday.
Disclosure: Rosslyn BID is an ARLnow.com advertiser
Update on 4/4/13 — The store is expected to hold a grand opening April 5 and 6. The store is owned by Bill and Kasi Hansen. Bill is a Yorktown High School graduate and “longtime local resident,” according to a press release. Zinga will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Earlier: The Zinga! Frozen Yogurt store that’s been in the works since last year at 2914 N. Sycamore Street, in the Williamsburg Shopping Center, is nearly ready to open.
According to the shop’s Facebook page, the goal is to open next week. Photos have been popping up on the page highlighting the store’s construction progress, such as the new outdoor sign and the arrival of the froyo machines. Customers are encouraged to “like” the page for special deals that will only be available to fans.
Zinga! will be the newest shop to cash in on the froyo trend by featuring machines that allow customers to serve themselves and then pay for the product by weight. There will be three dozen rotating flavors and 50 toppings to choose from.
The Facebook page also encourages anyone interested in working at the new location to contact Drew Hafer at [email protected].
Another Zinga! Frozen Yogurt is expected to open in Falls Church in late May.
Photos via Facebook
Tutti Frutti, a self-serve frozen yogurt store, has opened its second Arlington location.
The new Tutti Frutti store is located in Pentagon City on the 1300 block of S. Fern Street, near the U.S. Post Office and Epic Smokehouse. The store is the second Tutti Frutti in Arlington, after a location at 2439 N. Harrison Street, in the Lee Harrison Shops.
As reported in July, the location is only a couple of blocks from a Yogiberry frozen yogurt store on Pentagon Row, but the franchise owner of Tutti Frutti isn’t very worried about the competition.
“I feel very confident in the product,” owner Geoff Trout told ARLnow.com. “I don’t think Pentagon Row is close enough.”
Tutti Frutti serves dairy- and gluten-free, soy-based frozen yogurt made with no artificial sweeteners. The stores typically have a rotating menu of flavors and 35 to 40 fruit and candy topping options.
A sign in the window says the store is “now hiring.”
Columbia Pike is getting in on the frozen yogurt craze, with the opening of a Menchie’s (2405 Columbia Pike) in Penrose Square.
The shop opened on Friday (December 28) and features a wall of 16 self-serve frozen yogurt machines and dozens of toppings. Menchie’s tries to cater to people with food allergies, so there are dairy free and gluten free options, as well as extensive ingredient labels for each flavor. Menchie’s has its own organic dairy in California which supplies the products and provides some flavors not available anywhere else.
Franchise owner Robert Guinn said business has been steady since the opening and customers have been receptive to the frozen yogurt shop.
“We were looking for someplace we could fit in and growth with,” Guinn said. “The community is really strong and we’ve been really happy with the retail traffic coming by.”
The chain is recognized around the world partly due to its team of “Sweet Friends” such as Menchie, Mookie, Barry and Sprinkle. Guinn said kids can identify with the Sweet Friends according to their different personalities considering each character has different traits. Employees at the Columbia Pike location having been taking turns dressing up as Menchie to draw customers into the store.
“All of our team members thought they’d never want to be in a Menchie costume, and honestly all of them have been out there and loved it,” Guinn said.
This is the first Menchie’s location in Arlington. The shop plans to hold a grand opening starting next Saturday (January 12) which will run for a week. There will be a variety of events announced, including frozen yogurt and t-shirt giveaways.
The promised opening of a new frozen yogurt store in Rosslyn is on ice until the spring.
FroZenYo was originally expected to open at 1735 N. Lynn Street, in the former “News and Necessities” space, this past summer. The froyo chain opened a location in Ballston in August, but the Rosslyn location has yet to materialize.
In a tweet this morning, the Rosslyn Business Improvement announced that FroZenYo is now expected to open at some point this spring.
FroZenYo lets customers pick any combination of yogurt flavors and toppings, as detailed in a press release earlier this year.
Fro.Zen.Yo’s frozen yogurt is low fat and low calorie. The Fro.Zen.Yo menu features 16 flavors of frozen yogurt and a variety of fresh fruit and candy toppings. Customers get to choose any combination of flavors and toppings. Fro.Zen.Yo offers free hot fudge and also offers Deer Park bottled water for $.29.
