Photos by Sarah Bennett
In a Central Long Beach strip mall more known for its rich hip-hop roots than customizable frozen snacks, Old Skool Yogurt is bringing an unlikely new product to the area–froyo.
Located in a former Lousiana Fried Chicken next to the old VIP Records location on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Old Skool Yogurt is actually pretty new school for Long Beach. Soft-serve frozen yogurt shops such as Pinkberry and Yogurtland may be ubiquitous in affluent neighborhoods in Orange County and Los Angeles, but in Long Beach, there are only a few places to load up a cup of your favorite flavor with everything from fresh fruit to Captain Crunch cereal.
“Very often, people don’t even know what frozen yogurt is,” says Old Skool’s owner Opher Grinwald, an L.A.-based entrepeneur who opened his independently owned shop at the end of the summer last year. “The concept of self serve and pick your toppings just doesn’t exist here.”
Grinwald knew the risk in bringing his product to a new market, but he has adjusted to the demands of his customers by adding a selection of bottled drinks and chips as well as offering a $1 cone deal for those on a budget. Old Skool’s location behind Poly High School and adjacent to McBride Teen Center also keeps business up; students can be seen crowding the place each afternoon for after-school snacks.
“I want to bring high-quality stuff to this neighborhood. It deserves it,” he says. “And people are stoked to come into a nice, clean place and see smiling people and get a high quality product for a reasonable price.”
So far, Old Skool Yogurt has three machines and six flavors from the standard vanilla and chocolate to the more uncommon (but wildly popular) Hawaiian Punch and cake batter. There are also nearly 30 toppings like strawberries, boba balls, oreos and sprinkles.
“It’s so interesting to me that these types of shops are all over where I am from [in the San Fernando Valley] and the market is over-saturated,” he says. “Here, we’re making our own market.”
Old Skool Yogurt is located at 1004 E. Pacific Coast Highway
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