Written by Monique Y Jacques
It is Thursday afternoon, and you just suffered through a brutal history exam you should have studied for last night. You step out of the Ezell building into the bright sunlight of the afternoon and the front lawn is bustling. It is hot, and you could really use a cool treat. Just then your friend turns the corner and mentions that she is going out for frozen yogurt with a few of your buddies and that you should join for a pick-me-up. You only have three bucks and change in your pocket, but she reassures you that you will have plenty.
Whether it is for a quick study break, a reward after winning the C-team softball championship or an outing to simply spend time with friends without leaving Searcy,Froyo Factoryis the newest venue for sharing an inexpensivehealthy treat.
And Harding students have noticed.
Froyo Factory opened Friday, April 2, in the same strip mall as McAllister’s Deli and Fuji Japanese Steakhouse on Race Street. The small shop roared with more than 1,200 patrons after Saturday night’s final Spring Sing performance, and co-owners Carson Norton and Richard Caveza, former Harding students, said the flow has not yet lulled.
Norton said that on Saturday night he thinks an entire women’s social club was out on their corner.
When a customer walks in, he or she will see the custom graffiti on the turquoise wall behind the toppings bar that reads “Froyo Factory” and “38 cents per ounce” in bright colors. He or she then chooses a 12- or 16-ounce foam cup, which does not register on the scale, and pulls a flavor of frozen yogurt.
There are four self-serve machines with a total of eight flavors: decadent dark chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry, cheesecake, Valencia orange, classic tart, sugar-free butter pecan and Tahitian vanilla.
Then the yogurt patrons can choose as many of the 46 toppings as desired. Everything from hot fudge to strawberries to jellybeans is offered, and the co-owners say they are open for suggestions. At the end of the bar are a scale and a register where they top off the creation with a spoon.
They knew that college students would be drawn to the do-it-yourself idea.
“The concept itself is pretty unique,”Norton said. “There aren’t many foods in the industry you can do this with besides salads and buffets. It is a new idea with a new product, and Searcy had neither of the two.”
Four of the flavors will change biweekly, but the cores of chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry and vanilla will stay.
As nearly 20 Harding students went through nearly 20 minutes, freshman Laura Kelley said, “It’s my third time here since Saturday, and everyone I’ve talked to has been here more than twice. What is so great is that it is really inexpensive, and it’s not as bad for you as normal ice cream.”
Caveza said that the average yogurt is about $3.
Norton said the self-serve yogurt shops of his native state California inspired him, but that none of them had seating areas.
“We know that a lot of Harding students like to go and sit somewhere and even do their homework, and with Searcy being such a family environment, we figured we needed some seats,” he said.
In order to draw in even more business, Norton and Caveza said they hope to have four discount nights a week: one for Harding students, one for the high schools (alternating between the four), Wednesdays for families or groups of three or more, and one for senior citizens.
“Searcy is a really great place for a new business because people just adopt it,” Norton said. “It becomes a defining element of the town.”
The owners have high hopes for Froyo Factory, wanting to expand to Conway, Ark., and eventually into Missouri and Tennessee.
