Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt intends to open in Southside and Mandarin, joining the Northeast Florida area where more than 20 other frozen yogurt shops under at least four other brands operate.
The Menchie’s franchisees plan to open several more locations in the coming years.
Menchie’s offers self-serve yogurt with toppings, syrups and sauces. The menchies.com site says it is designed for efficien–cy, cleanliness, attractiveness and guest self-service.
The city is reviewing a building permit for Menchie’s in Pablo Creek Plaza at 13672 Beach Blvd., at Beach and Hodges boulevards. The 1,782-square-foot shop is an estimated $245,000 renovation, according to a pending building-permit application.
Franchise owners Cory and Catherine Courtney hope to open the Pablo Creek Plaza shop between mid-February and mid-March. They also intend to open in two other Jacksonville territories — Orange Park and St. Augustine — and have an option on two more territories for a total of five stores.
The Riverplace Shopping Center location, at 11111 San Jose Blvd., is owned by Adriana and Reinaldo Arreaza, who intend to open their Menchie’s in March with a seven-day grand-opening celebration.
“I visited Menchie’s a couple years ago and have been in love with the concept ever since,” said Reinaldo Arreaza.
He said the self-serve store will feature a rotation choice of flavors and toppings, as well as arts and crafts for children, music, and indoor and outside seating areas.
The Menchies.com website shows there are more than 400 locations in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Puerto Rico, Israel, Guam and China.
Menchie’s, based in Encino, Calif., says it expects to celebrate 500 open stores this year. It began in 2007 and started to franchise in 2008.
The site shows at least 47 shops in Florida, with at least six more to open soon.
Menchie’s says frozen yogurt is an $8 billion industry in the United States and growing. It says the average startup cost for a Menchie’s shop is $330,000, including a $40,000 franchise fee.
At least 21 other frozen yogurt locations operate in Northeast Florida, according to their websites. SweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt and Yobe Frozen Yogurt each have at least eight locations TCBY Frozen Yogurt has at least three and Mochi Frozen Yogurt has two.
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