It’s winter and you crave something hearty and warm — like soup, pasta or hot cocoa. I doubt anyone decked out in a parka, scarf and gloves is saying to their friend “I know it’s January, but I feel like frozen yogurt.”
Right? So do frozen yogurt places like Pinkberry, TCBY and Red Mango close down their stores during the peak winter months? We’re talking about the stores on the eastern side of the United States and the ones that are standalone (as opposed to the FroYo places in warm, cozy malls).
Is Pinkberry Open During Winter Months?
It’s a fair question. I used to wonder “Who wants ice cream when it’s cold?!” Now there are times when I look at ice cream and no matter if there’s snow and ice on the ground, I kinda sorta want a scoop. So I sent an email asking Pinkberry about their winter hours and this was their response:
(Closing when it’s cold) actually depends on the Franchise owner specifically. From what i understand no, but they can close up shop earlier during the winter months.
Closing up when it’s 20 degrees seems like it would make business sense. The Washington City Paper reported that frozen yogurt sales drop as much as 80 percent during the colder months. Call me crazy, but when you can see your breath and there’s snow on the ground that generally, no one is craving a cool refreshing frozen treat in December.
Nope. Not true. At least not according to this “report”; Pinkberry shops still see a good amount of foot traffic even when it’s below freezing temperatures:
With temperatures below freezing, it seems somewhat surprising that Boston residents are still flocking to Pinkberry, a frozen yogurt company based in Southern California. With lines still snaking at the Prudential Center and stretching out the door on Newbury, it is clear the cold is not keeping people from their froyo. There are more stores ready to open in Boston over the next year, with the opening of a South Station location less than a month away. There are now more Pinkberry locations in the Bay State than in its origin state of California, and the business is continuing to grow as New England Frog Pond opens more Massachusetts locations.
On another note, the first Pinkberry location opened in January and had total sales of $70 for the entire month. It may have been in Southern California so it was rain rather than snow, but in hindsight, the owners recognize the timing was bad: “In the winter, opening up a cold-dessert shop, it was the worst business decision we ever made,” said Young Lee, one of Pinkberry’s founders.
Despite what you may assume, there are frozen yogurt fans in the winter and because of that, if you’re ever craving a Red Mango or Pinkberry in the dead of winter, they’re there to serve you even more cold.
