Yogurtland Expands in Dallas Fort Worth

(Dallas, Texas) February 2, 2010 – SRS Real Estate Partners announces the expansion of Yogurtland, a self-serve frozen yogurt concept featuring a variety yogurt flavors and fresh toppings. Yogurtland opened in the Shops of Southlake on January 23, and plans to open in Lincoln Park, at Northwest Highway and US75 (Central Expressway) across from NorthPark Center in Dallas the week of February 7, 2010. Another lease was recently signed for a store in Frankford Pavilion, at 4520 Frankford Road, at the Dallas North Tollway in Dallas. A store is also open in Carrolton, Texas, at 2625 Old Denton Road at TX Hwy 190, the President George Bush Turnpike.

“Our customers love our do-it-yourself concept that allows them to combine flavors and an unlimited number of toppings to create their own yogurt masterpiece” said Alexis Eldridge, head of marketing for Yogurtland. “Our emphasis on original flavors created from a proprietary recipe, such as Taro, Mango Tart and no-sugar-added Pecan Praline, make our product a unique snack.” Toppings include healthy choices such as fresh strawberries and kiwi, chopped pistachio nuts and cereals as well as more indulgent gummy bears and white chocolate chips.

“The combination we offer of great taste and great value is hard to beat,” said Eldridge.

“Yogurtland wanted top notch marquee locations for their entry into the Dallas/Fort Worth market,” said Lee Loftis, vice president in SRS Real Estate Partners’ Dallas office. “SRS Real Estate Partners was able to assist with demographic studies to match locations with appropriate age and income criteria while using on-the-ground, first-hand market knowledge to identify shopping centers that contained the right mix of day/night traffic with quality restaurant and soft-good tenants.”

Yogurtland is expanding rapidly with plans to add up to ten more stores each in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and Austin/San Antonio. The concept originated in Southern California, and 65 stores were open as of year-end 2009 in California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. Florida, Utah and Colorado openings are planned for 2010. Yogurtland also has international growth in Japan and Mexico.

Yogurtland’s affordable and healthy product appeals to moms and teens as well as to adults. The company looks for locations that have “stroller traffic”, youth-oriented shopping choices and /or entertainment venues for date night traffic.

Dana McKay, leasing manager at the Redondo Beach, Calif.–based Riviera Village says he selected Yogurtland for a space once occupied by Ritz Camera over proposals from four other yogurt concepts. “Two of them offered to pay 10 percent more in rent than Yogurtland, but we made our decision based on which concept we felt had the best chance of surviving long-term” said McKay. The Riviera Village Yogurtland unit opened last fall. “Since Yogurtland has been here, Trader Joe’s business has actually gone up.”

“We are growing to meet the demands of both our customers and our franchisees,” said Cesar Shi, Yogurtland’s director of real estate. “But we are being cautious in our site selection, and ensuring our store operators have plenty of training and support.”

Frank Bullock, executive vice president, and Lee Loftis, vice president in SRS Real Estate Partners’ Dallas office represented Yogurtland in the transactions. Earl Harris of The Weitzman Group represented Shops of Southlake, Rand Horowitz of United Commercial Realty represented Lincoln Park, and Bill Archer of John Bowles Company represented Frankford Pavilion.

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The evolution of Staubach Retail into SRS Real Estate Partners brings retail specialists, in most major markets, to this new name with a strong heritage. Clients of SRS Real Estate Partners have a competitive edge with the full range of services which include tenant representation, landlord representation, land brokerage, disposition services, investment services, lease administration and managed services.