The self-serve frozen yogurt trend sweeping inland from the coasts has taken off at Rushmore Crossing, where FreshBerry opened in May to the highest opening sales of any store in its brand and continues to be the highest grossing FreshBerry of about 40 nationwide, according to FastCasual.com.
But franchisees Shawn and Dannalee Nordhagen aren’t just sitting back and watching the customers roll in.
With as many as three other frozen yogurt chains looking to open shops in Rapid City, there is increasing competition for consumers’ dessert dollars, as the new stores look to steal market share from FreshBerry as well as established shops like Dairy Queen, Armadillo’s, Culver’s and Cold Stone Creamery.
“I’ve lost sleep over CherryBerry coming here,” Nordhagen said.
To maintain the lead her head start has given her, Nordhagen said she plans to focus on customer service, community involvement and maintaining the clean, fun atmosphere at FreshBerry. She also offers extras, such as a SmallCakes cupcake shop within her shop, catering services, party hosting in the store and a mobile frozen yogurt bar she can take to festivals and events.