Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Swirll to Give it a Whirl in Atlanta

Houston, Texas-based Swirll Frozen Yogurt will soon open their first Atlanta area location within TOWN Brookhaven, off Peachtree Road. Located on the street level of the Alexan apartments, the yogurt shop should open in about a month. Originally, locally based Yoreka was to open in the development, but as their first store closed at Sembler's Prado center in Sandy Springs, followed by the closure of their location in Little 5 Points, it seemed unlikely this location would ever open.

Swirll will open a total of three locations in the area. A second will open on Roswell Road in North Buckhead in the same shopping center as The Fresh Market and Goldberg's but there seems to be less progress than at the Brookhaven site. Swirll is entering a very crowded frozen yogurt market. Within a mile of the Roswell Road space are Jujubee's, Menchie's and Three on the Tree. Three on the Tree recently raised their per ounce price from 39 to 45 cents. Menchie's charges 44 cents and Swirll is known to be 43 cents while Jujubee's sells its yogurt by size rather than weight.

A third Swirll will open in Perimeter Place in Dunwoody. Perimeter Place is anchored by Target and ROSS and is across the street from Perimeter Mall. The Perimeter area was less competitive when there was just the one Yoforia in Perimeter Mall but that has already begun to change. In the coming days, Yoforia will open a second location in the area, within Perimeter Pointe shopping center, near the Regal Cinemas.

Personally, I think the yogurt craze has gotten a little out of control and prices are likely to be affected. Locally, Three on the Tree's partnership with Atlanta Fresh has driven their per once pricing up to 45 cents from 39. Los Angeles-based Yogurtland, which recently opened off West Paces Ferry, the first of many planned locations, has a proprietary product and is thus able to undercut competitors. At 33 cents per ounce, they are the cheapest cost per ounce that I know of in the city. Their product itself is quite tasty, in particular the Devil's Food Cupcake Batter and Red Velvet Cupcake.

All in all, Swirll seems to be one of the smallest out-of-town chains to enter Atlanta, with a mere seven locations open, only one of which is out of their home state of Texas. It will be interesting to see how this upcoming addition turns out and how many of these chains are still here in a year.

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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

This almost seems like a parody. Is frozen yogurt really that popular? I'd rather seen some new ice cream shops come into the city.

Anonymous said...

Nice Sign!

Anonymous said...

The number of yogurt places is a bit excessive, but I will say that Swirll has scored itself 2 great locations. In Town Brookhaven, you have built in customers living above you and once all is said and done, it should be quite a busy shopping center (Costco, movies, Publix, LA Fitness, etc.). And same for the Perimeter shopping center. As long as their product is good, it should do well. I would love to see some originality though in all these yogurt places. If you think about ice cream, no one complains when a place like Morelli's opens because they're so unique. I hope some of the yogurt places can be the same. Maybe that Yogurtland place you mention is one based on the proprietary recipe and those flavors...

Anonymous said...

What a horrible name! Every time I see this picture I think it says "swill".

StojBoj said...

Finally, we get frozen yogurt in Atlanta! Oh, wait... there's already one on every other block.

Atlantan99 said...

@John,

I know, right?

Anonymous said...

Any idea how big these places are? Square Footage?

Atlantan99 said...

@ Cathie,

Not 100% but I'm thinking around 2500 - 3000 s/f. The Wieuca space looks smallish but has a number of walls that will surely come down. The Brookhaven space looks on par with the new Yoforia on Dresden and the Yogurtland on West Paces Ferry.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for reading the blog and for the question.

Anonymous said...

Why won't anyone give it a whirl on Peachtree Street in Midtown???!!

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon,

That may not continue to be the case...

Anonymous said...

Does that mean you know something we don't??? Spill the beans!!

Anonymous said...

"Why won't anyone give it a whirl on Peachtree Street"
Because they don't want a rock thrown through their front door.

Atlantan99 said...

@ Anon RE: Midtown location. Nothing to confirm as of yet. When the pen is in hand, will be sure and let everyone know.

Anonymous said...

"Because they don't want a rock thrown through their front door."

What? I'm talking about Midtown you moron. You obviously don't live in Atlanta. Most robberies are not happening on Peachtree Street. Please stay in the suburbs and shut up.

Anonymous said...

Swirll has 16 flavors and over 50 toppings! Their tart is proprietary and they mix many of their tart flavors from it! They also boast 3 "no sugar added" flavors and 2 sorbets. They can accomodate gluten free, diabetics and milk allergies within their product line. They are creative with a Cajun Flair and just wait until you taste their 'KingCake".

Anonymous said...

I love swirll and can't wait until it opens..I've been a fan since Houston. Does anyone have an idea when Brookhaven is opening??

Anonymous said...

I work here, and our place is amazing! You really need to come try it. We have more toppings than everyone else, more flavors, and our yogurt is probiotic! The design of the store is fabulous, and the place is always clean. That's like our motto... Smile and clean! Although we're new, we're here to stay! And we play music videos on a flat screen. Where else can you get that?

Anonymous said...

"I will always be way tastier!" - Ice Cream

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