Freshens Smoothie and Yogurt Company is continuing a three-day grand opening through Sept. 9 at the Talley Student Center.
Jennifer Gilmore, marketing and communications manager for University Dining, said there would be a lot of free treats available during the opening.
“The first 100 visitors who RSVP’d on our Freshens Facebook fan page will get a free smoothie,” Gilmore said. “We will also do some sampling and pass out coupons on Wednesday and Thursday.”
Freshens relocated from the Atrium food court to the Talley Student Center food court.
“When we determined that Freshens was not a good fit for the new Atrium, we chose to relocate it to Talley instead of removing it from the University Dining lineup,” Gilmore said. “The back corner of Talley was the perfect place for it, as we used to have an eatery called The Cutting Board in that very same spot many years ago.”
According to Gilmore, Freshens is already becoming popular among the students.
“Students love Freshens. It’s a healthy alternative. I think it’s going to attract a lot of students,” Gilmore said.
“A few students were already waiting here at 10:30 a.m.,” Gilmore said.
Justin Sisneros, an ROTC instructor, said he came to the opening to try the fruity giveaway.
“I came here for the free smoothie,” Sisneros said. “It is pretty good.”
According to Gilmore, Freshens will regularly open on the same time schedule as the other Talley Food Court eateries.”
Randy Lait, director of Dining Services, said the students will like the new location better.
“We believe students will enjoy the products from Freshens and the look and location will be well received,” Lait said.
Although the Talley food court addition is opening in an area previously available for student seating, Lait said students won’t be inconvenienced.
“The seating layout was adjusted to make room for Freshens with minimum loss of seating, so we do not anticipate any problems from the change in use of space,” Lait said.
Freshens is also complying with the University’s sustainability mission.
According to Gavin O’Connor, director business development of Freshens, the entire cabinetry and framework was made of renewable resources. O’Connor said the resources are a part of a sustainability initiative. The framework which is made of metal, plastics and wood contain pre-consumer recycled content.
“The cups we use are compostable. The coating is sourced from sustainably grown renewable resources,” O’Connor said. “Freshens was the first national retail brand to introduce the compostable cup.”
According to O’Connor, all food products used in Freshens are natural.
“We use natural juices, yogurt which is gluten-free. There are no genetically modified organisms in our products,” O’Connor said.
Morgan Jones, a freshman in FYC, said she liked the new location Freshens.
“It’s a good location, [Freshens is] close to all the dorms,” Jones said.
Jones also said she liked Freshens smoothies.
“Smoothies are very good; they are not chunky with ice. I can also have yogurt for breakfast,” Jones said.
Garrett Holloway, a freshman in computer science, said he liked the touch screens which display smoothies’ nutritional values.
“It’s my first time at Freshens. I will definitely come back,” Holloway said. “I like the touch screen which displays the nutritional content.”