The owner of the local Yapple stores said the Willow Lawn location didn’t bring in enough customers. (Photo by Michael Thompson)
A frozen yogurt brand is down to one local store and is working on changing its image.
The Yapple Yogurt at 1601 Willow Lawn Drive closed last month, owner Scott Yu said.
“That location didn’t work out,” he said. There was “not enough traffic, not enough customers.”
Yu and his cousin Andy Lin brought Yapple to Willow Lawn in 2012. It moved in next door to a Tropical Smoothie Café and gave the Yapple brand a second store along with its original Richmond location in Carytown.
Lin eventually sold the two Richmond stores, along with one in Harrisonburg, to Yu. Lin still owns the brand’s five other locations in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
This isn’t the first time Yapple has faced trouble in Richmond.
The Yapple location in Carytown is still serving. Photo by Michael Thompson.
Late last year, Yu was temporarily locked out of the Carytown location before re-opening three days later.
Despite the loss of the Willow Lawn location, Yu said the Carytown spot remains open and he is working on re-branding Yapple.
“We thought it would be easy but it’s really hard to deal with the changing of the brand,” he said.
The 1,479-square-foot former Yapple space at Willow Lawn is listed as being available for lease on the website Federal Realty Investment Trust, the Maryland-based REIT that owns the shopping center.
Rich Abruscato is listed as the firm’s leasing agent for the property, according to its website. Abruscato did not respond to request for comment by press time.
The owner of the local Yapple stores said the Willow Lawn location didn’t bring in enough customers. (Photo by Michael Thompson)
A frozen yogurt brand is down to one local store and is working on changing its image.
The Yapple Yogurt at 1601 Willow Lawn Drive closed last month, owner Scott Yu said.
“That location didn’t work out,” he said. There was “not enough traffic, not enough customers.”
Yu and his cousin Andy Lin brought Yapple to Willow Lawn in 2012. It moved in next door to a Tropical Smoothie Café and gave the Yapple brand a second store along with its original Richmond location in Carytown.
Lin eventually sold the two Richmond stores, along with one in Harrisonburg, to Yu. Lin still owns the brand’s five other locations in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
This isn’t the first time Yapple has faced trouble in Richmond.
The Yapple location in Carytown is still serving. Photo by Michael Thompson.
Late last year, Yu was temporarily locked out of the Carytown location before re-opening three days later.
Despite the loss of the Willow Lawn location, Yu said the Carytown spot remains open and he is working on re-branding Yapple.
“We thought it would be easy but it’s really hard to deal with the changing of the brand,” he said.
The 1,479-square-foot former Yapple space at Willow Lawn is listed as being available for lease on the website Federal Realty Investment Trust, the Maryland-based REIT that owns the shopping center.
Rich Abruscato is listed as the firm’s leasing agent for the property, according to its website. Abruscato did not respond to request for comment by press time.