Frozen yogurt, cupcake shops closing in Dilworth

Two relatively new food options on East Boulevard are closing this weekend, as Freshberry Frozen Yogurt and Smallcakes Cupcakery throw in the towel.

The neon-accented stores opened in the former Blockbuster location at Kenilworth Avenue and East Blvd. just this summer. I wrote about them when they were first announced in February, which you can read about here.

Sunday will be the last day of business for Freshberry and Smallcakes. There's no word yet on what will be replacing the stores. Owner Nick Smith was out of town Thursday, said a woman at the store.

Smith, a longtime Charlotte franchise owner who opened the city's first Jersey Mike's sub shop and Moe's Southwest Grill restaurants, will be featured in an upcoming Observer store on franchising. He said that the Freshberry/Smallcakes concept is closing due to slow traffic.

That certainly seemed to be the case Wednesday night, when I went by the restaurant on my way home from work. A man in a cowboy hat was spinning LED lights to lure people into the nearly-empty parking lot.

Freshberry was entering an already crowded fro-yo marketplace, with a slew of businesses including Yoforia, Tasty Yo, Pinkberry, TCBY, Cherry Berry, and the Frozen Isle. And directly across the street from Freshberry, on the opposite corner in the Kenilworth Commons shopping center, is Menchie's, a fro-yo franchise that opened last year.

Read more here: http://obswhatsinstore.blogspot.com/2012/02/frozen-yogurt-cupcakes-subs-headed-to.html#storylink=cpy

A Jersey Mike's that occupies the other half of the former Blockbuster building will remain open. 





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