Healthy Fast Food Inc., parent to U-SWIRL International Inc., the owner and franchisor of U-SWIRL Frozen Yogurt cafes, announced that its franchisee, Galena Frozen Yogurt Company, finalized lease negotiations for its third U-SWIRL self-serve frozen yogurt cafe to be opened in Reno, Nevada.
Galena, which owns and operates a U-SWIRL cafe on the south side of Reno, is on schedule to open its second self-serve frozen yogurt cafe in the North McCarran Crossing shopping plaza on or before October 1. Its third franchise U-SWIRL location will be in the new Coit Plaza, a 28.8-acre planned retail complex on McCarran Boulevard in Reno’s northwestern region, next door to a Super Wal-Mart. Under construction, the new retail complex will serve a rapidly growing population of residential homeowners and apartment dwellers, including many college students attending the University of Nevada, as well as developing commercial business districts to the east and south of the site. Galena estimates that the Coit Plaza U-SWIRL cafe will be opened and ready to welcome the public in January 2011.
“The U-SWIRL self-serve concept and business model has definitely proven to be right on the mark,” says Frank Fisher, CEO and managing principal of Galena. “Since opening in October of 2009, our first U-SWIRL cafe has fast grown to be Reno’s most popular frozen treat destination, as noted in our local press, and is now consistently beating our monthly sales goals. Therefore, it should be no surprise that we are very anxious to get our next two cafes built and opened as soon as practical, and underway on scouting for our fourth site.”
“We are thrilled by the success that Galena is enjoying with our U-SWIRL concept in ‘the biggest little city in the world,’ as evidenced by the fact that their south-side cafe is currently one of the best performing U-SWIRL locations in our growing national franchise system,” says Hank Cartwright, chairman and CEO of Healthy Fast Food. “Frank and his team have clearly embraced the compelling business-building opportunity that U-SWIRL offers and the importance of delivering their guests the optimal U-SWIRL experience.”
With the opening of Galena’s two newest locations, it will bring the total number of company-owned and franchised U-SWIRL’s in operation to 10—seven in the Vegas valley and three in Reno. Moreover, Healthy Fast Food has signed franchise and area development agreements to open up to 27 additional U-SWIRL self-serve frozen yogurt cafes in Phoenix, Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Monmouth County, New Jersey; and Boise, Idaho, over the next three to five years.