Swirll, a Texas-based frozen yogurt shop, has closed the second of its three Atlanta area locations.
The frozen yogurt franchise opened in Buckhead at Wieuca-Roswell Shopping Center, TOWN Brookhaven, and Perimeter Place in Dunwoody, and now only their TOWN Brookhaven store remains open. The Buckhead location closed in July and the Dunwoody location closed about two weeks ago.
I placed all Atlanta area Swirll locations on DeathWatch earlier this year given their poor service, inferior flavor selection and less than ideal locations. While its closure is sad, it's not a surprise. This concept was as generic as they come, and did nothing to differentiate itself from area competitors, all of which, for the most part, offer a similar product at a similar price. In such a competitive market, selling such a commodity item, differentiation is essential to success.
Encino, California-based Menchies, another frozen yogurt shop, closed its West Paces Ferry location last month and is rumored to be on the verge of closing others in the metro soon.
Are the polar icecaps covering Atlanta in a froyo freeze finally melting, or is this merely a correction in an overly saturated market? What are your thoughts on the frozen yogurt offerings in Atlanta? What is your favorite froyo shop?
5 comments:
I think ATL can take a break from frozen yogurt, hamburger places, and taquerias. The market seems a bit over saturated.
As with any business, fad or otherwise, people vote with their wallet and the best ones will survive. It's amazing how some think the number of yogurt/burger/cupcake/etc shops opening up is a sign of the apocalypse. It's not. It's the way businesses work. Whether large corporations to individuals, an opportunity is seen. A business is opened and they feel their yogurt/burger/cupcake/etc is the best and when the dust settles, they feel they will be the ones left standing. Obviously, they all won't be the best and won't all be left standing. Is it perfect? No. Would more originality be better than 10 of seemingly the same idea? Yes. But this is how it works. It makes me happy in some cases. For example, my favorite yogurt place is Yogurtland. They are a CA based company with only 3 locations in Georgia. Without them sticking their foot in the Atlanta market, I wouldn't have this option. I personally think their product is the best tasting, best priced, and they have the most unique flavors. I hope they will make it. Am I happy to see Swirll go out of business? No, because people have now lost jobs and store fronts are now empty. But it's the way of the world. So to everyone who complains about the repetitive businesses that open, put your money where your mouth is and open your one of a kind business and entice me to spend my money there. Until then, in this free country, you can talk and complain all you want, but you really have nothing to complain about.
I hope Menchie's stays open. They have the best toppings.
Pinkberry is the best froyo. I wish they had more locations here. All the rest have the same product at around the same price as the article states.
Yogurberry is still my favorite of the frozen yogurt crowd. They have the widest selection of products and were smart to expand from just froyo and are not just like the others. I think they are the longest and friendliest of the bunch In atlanta as well. Service and quality are king
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