You too can open your own 'Natural' Yogurt shop -- watch out Pinkberry!
Apparently all it takes is a few thousand dollars and a storefront, as well as enough credit to buy some chairs at Design Within Reach, Kartell or IKEA, and you, too, can open your very own Pinkberry clone.
Since Pinkberry is taking its time, I invite any willing competitors to jump on the bandwagon and rent a space to open up shop. Once you've found the perfect location (let's say a mini-mall near Vine and Melrose, perchance, at a rate of a couple bucks per square feet), here's all you need to know:
First, go to Taylor Equipment and buy your very own soft serve machine, from which you'll dispense the stuff. Or buy it from Orange County distributor Specialized Services. If you're in a real hurry check out Surfas Restaurant Supply in Culver City where they can get you one of these machines in 3 days assuming you're LA-based. (As soon as I have some costs on the machine, I'll post them here. But I'm guessing they won't be astronomical.)
Next, get your yogurt ingredients. You can actually get something pre-mixed called YoCream, in either non-fat plain or premium natural flavors. This comes in liquid form and uses active yogurt cultures. I'm making the assumption that this is what some of Pinkberry's competitors might be using, or at the very least a noble equivalent. At only $23.63 per 6.5 gallon cartons, through Southwest Traders Distribution, you'll be swimming in yogurt (considering their $300 minimum order, you'll be receiving approximately 85 gallons) for quite some time. Southwest Traders can be reached at 951-699-7800.
Another cost: seating. The chair on the left, from DWR, is on sale for about $50. The ones in the middle and on the right, also from DWR, $100 minus a 15% discount for buying more than one. Since your space is sure to be small, you'll only need a half dozen, max.
And while I haven't been able to find the exact costs of getting a restaurant permit from the LA County Health Department, it appears to be nominal.
With relatively low start-up costs, and at pennies per serving of the product (before toppings), this tells you just how much money the folks at Pinkberry are making -- and why everybody is copying them. That's not to mention that it took me under an hour to gather all this information, I can think of about a half dozen decent locations, and all the products needed appear to be available for delivery in under a week with a few double-clicks of the mouse.
In total, you should be up and running with start-up costs hovering in the $5000 range (let's say $10,000, max), which is nothing in the restaurant world. Hmmmm, maybe I should do this. I can see it now: Coming soon! The one and only Dabblerlicious Natural Yogurt Supreme, somewhere near Sunset and Vine...
posted by The Dabbler | 9/15/2006
9 Comments:
haha!! GENIUS! you should create a class through the Learning Annex: How to Open a Pinkberry Clone
Hey CC, Thanks for the link! And the comment! And for my new career as a Learning Annex instructor (if you knew me you'd know how badly I need a new career)! And for reading my blog! You are a Yogurt Reporter extraordinaire! (I know I'm not really supposed to use so many exclamation points.)
You are way off on your assumptions and your estimated start-up costs for even a small Pinkberry. How far off? Try a total turn-key of at least $200,000 vs. your $10,000. The yogurt machine alone will be over $10,000. You have architectual fees, legal fees, licenses and permits, construction of the build-out, inventory, equipment etc. The build-out on the electrical, plumbing, general contracting alone will be at least $80,000 on the space of 800 sq.feet or at least $100 per sq. foot. The equipment package will run at least another $75,000 - you need more than a yogurt machine. You need refrigeration, air conditioning,signage etc.
thank you for your input, anonymous (aka yogurtfanatik?). You clearly understand the details of the yogurt business, as well as the subtleties of sarcasm. Don't hesitate to identify yourself the next time you post.
I know plenty of people who have started, from scratch, their own businesses (all kinds of shops, including yogurt) and it doesn't cost that much--not upwards of $200,000 for a yogurt shop.
In response to "askbilly" and those who think it doesn't cost that much for a yogurt shop "not upwards of $200,000" - I challenge you to prove it. When Pinkberry, Fiore or Kiwiberri start franchising, they will have to provide the prospective franchisees with a UFOC document - Uniform Franchise Offering Circular. All projected costs have to be listed by item with a range from low to high with a total investment requirement. This is required by law. I will bet "askbilly" that the low end of their investment range comes in over $200,000. The franchise fee alone will be $40,000. For a comparison, get your hands on a UFOC from another concept,for example a Cold Stone Creamery runs about $350,000.
Anonymous, it sounds to me like you're trying to scare some people away from the yogurt biz. Although my mock-article was meant to make it sound super-easy to open a yogurt store, I'm sure you are correct that it would take more than $5000. However, a start-up would NOT have to pay exorbinant franchise/licensing fees to pay for a 'brand name' like kiwiberri that isn't really even established yet. I am sure when Cold Stone first started, it cost less for the franchisees than it does now, since now Cold Stone is a well know, recognized brand name. I don't think any of the yogurt stores, aside from possibly in a small section of Los Angeles, could claim that type of brand recognition.
Now, we're all taking things too seriously. This was meant as a joke. Though you CAN get a large capacity soft serve freezer (refurbished with warranty) for $6000. Not as cheap as I had imagined but certainly well short of bringing the final tally anywhere close to $200K.
And next time, anonymous, please identify yourself. Otherwise I will have to assume you are a yogurt industry goon trying to frighten people away from attempting to live the American dream and become a small business owner. And I will remove your possibly erroneous, misleading posts.
I think opening a shop for less than a $100,000 will be extremely difficult, unless you get very lucky with your contractor/build-out. But $200,000 would be an example of being too loose with your money. I have opened a juice bar (in Texas) for about $160,000, and it seats 50, which is probably quite a bit larger than a pinkberry would be.
(i don't use blogger, so i don't have a name.)
i run a smoothie shop in riverside. only cost about 50K to take over an existing unit. i think opening up a nonfranchise shop for 100,000 is very plausible. you only pay premium prices of 200K or more for franchises. this anonymous guy is a total ass by the way. and 50 seats for a juice bar is ridiculous. have you seen a jamba juice with more than 10 seats? there's a reason for that. the reason is: anonymous guy is full of sht. anyways i enjoyed your blog. and found it humorous that you mention southwest trader. they are my wholesale supplier so you really did your homework well. except the yogurt part, i don't think they offer the same type of pinkberry yogurt yet. it will only be time when they do and it will be available for any entrepreneur.
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