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At the new FreshBerry location on Hillsborough Street, Julia Belcher, a freshman in nutrition, adds chocolate syrup as a final touch to her frozen yogurt. “I like FreshBerry because I love frozen yogurt and they have a wide selection of yogurt flavors and toppings,” Belcher said. FreshBerry offers a total of eight frozen yogurt flavors and 48 possible toppings to select from. Photo by Hannah Jaffee
Hundreds of students flocked to the grand opening of the new frozen yogurt shop on Hillsborough Street, Fresh Berry, to get a free cup of frozen yogurt with a topping of their choice Oct. 21.
The proprietors of this branch of the frozen yogurt chain, John and Linda Lenzmeiers, have since seen a great deal of their revenue coming from the N.C. State population. From the day of its opening, the business has been booming with success, according to employees of the shop.
Because of this, Fresh Berry has started to keep a very close relationship with the University — especially the student body. They even promoted a new smoothie special during homecoming week in an attempt to foster school pride.
Fresh Berry is an international franchise which has several locations within the United States and across the globe alike, including one in North Raleigh, and sports a unique relaxing environment which many students say is what attracts them to the restaurant.
Faiza Mustafa, a sophomore in biological sciences, said “if I wanted ice cream, I could easily go to the Creamery, but the fact that Fresh Berry is off campus makes me feel like I’m away from the stress of campus life. That’s actually how all my friends feel, as well. Not to mention that frozen yogurt is not only a lot healthier than regular ice cream, I think it tastes a lot better, too.”
Asem Buckets, a senior in biological sciences, said he feels like the yogurt shop is more student friendly since it has reasonably priced options and specials for students.
“It’s not like stale old ice cream that you can easily get anywhere else, it’s fresh and has its own unique flavor, which is what attracts me to Fresh Berry,” Buckets said.
These specials and discounts is what workers at Fresh Berry say attract the University population to the restaurant, along with its relative proximity to the library.
During homecoming week, Fresh Berry promoted its “Black & Red” smoothie made of blackberries and strawberries to promote school pride. They also have a customer loyalty card, the “ideal card,” which allows customers to rack up points for every dollar they spend at the restaurant, letting them then redeem the points for freebies.
Ten percent discounts are available for those who have bought a Fresh Berry shirt and wear it during their order. Further, the restaurant takes a dollar off the purchase for customers who say they follow Fresh Berry on Facebook or Twitter at “FreshBerry N.C.”
The restaurant employs many students, fostering good feelings with the student population, who see their friends working at the frozen yogurt joint. Mara Kurtz, a senior in arts application and a Fresh Berry cashier, thinks the restaurant owes its success to it being a “hip and modern place to come out and chill.”
Observing the crowd at the restaurant, most people relax and talk to their friends after finishing their ice cream, creating a warm and “chill” environment. Kurtz said the self-serve restaurant serves Fresh Pops, homemade popsicles and frozen yogurt smoothies, in addition to their eight flavors of frozen yogurt and 48 different toppings.