In Sunday’s Dayton Daily News, we’ll take a closer look at the recent surge in frozen-yogurt shops in the Dayton area and what the heightened competition might mean for the entrepreneurs behind the new “fro-yo” shops.
The owners of Dayton-area Orange Leaf Yogurt franchise shops, who are “a few days away” from signing a lease on their first location in the Town & Country shopping center in Kettering, are eyeing Beavercreek sites for their second Dayton-area location, according to franchise co-owner Brad Shipe.
The franchise owners are scouting Beavercreek locations on North Fairfield Road between I-675 and Kemp Road with an eye toward opening sometime in 2013. “We are still waiting for the right space to open up,” Shipe said.
The Town & Country location’s target opening date is Dec. 15, Shipe said. “We chose Kettering as our first store because of it’s successful, Main-Street-America appeal,” Shipe said. “City officials said Town & Country is at the heart of the community, and that’s where we wanted to be.”
The new Kettering location will enter a market in which two independent frozen-yogurt shops have opened in relatively close proximity in recent weeks: Awesome Yogurt on Far Hills Avenue at East Dorothy Lane in Kettering and T-Willy’s Frozen Yogurt Emporium, also on Far Hills Avenue in the Washington Square Shopping Center in Washington Twp.
Oklahoma City-based Orange Leaf opened its 200th store last week and has another 97 stores in the works, including the Kettering location, Shipe said. Another 100 locations, including the proposed Beavercreek shop, are in early stages of development, he said.
Orange Leaf opened a shop earlier this year in West Chester, in addition to operating seven Cincinnati-area locations. Shipe and his partners also are working to open Orange Leaf shops in the Columbus area.
About the Author