Frozen Yogurt Franchise to Take Former Jamba Juice Site

Two months ago, the Carlmont Village Shopping Center said goodbye to the straw. But this summer, Belmont residents will say hello to the spoon.

Jamba Juice, which occupied the shopping center for more than a decade, in April.

But on Thursday, Carlmont Shopping Center Operations Manager Ivano Pellegrini told Belmont Patch another cold treat will take its place in the months to come, as Yoppi Yogurt has signed a lease to fill in the vacancy left by the famed smoothie conglomerate.

According to Pellegrini, though seemingly popular amongst Belmont residents, Jamba Juice officials weren't happy with the store's numbers and chose not to renew its lease.

“They just weren’t making the number that they wanted to at this location,” Pellegrini said.

Pellegrini said in April that the smoothie chain was a popular hangout spot for local teens, but Thursday, Pellegrini realized that might have been both a gift and a curse.

“What happens here is you have the kids during the day, after school,” said Pellegrini. “But you don’t have them all day long. They didn’t get enough adult participation and I think that’s what caused it.”

Now, with the recent frozen yogurt craze that has stormed the west coast in the past five years, Pellegrini is hoping that Yoppi is here to stay.

“We’re just hoping that they’ll do well,” he said. “They have other locations. It’s a franchise.”

If local residents have ever experienced other yogurt chains, such as Pinkberry, Red Mango or YogurtLand, they will have already gotten a taste of what to expect from Yoppi.

But according to its online menu, Yoppi offers a bit more variety than Pinkberry and Red Mango, coming closer to that of a Yogurtland.

Currently, Yoppi offers 30 flavors of yogurt, including Cheesecake, Egg Nog, Capuccino and Yellow Cake Batter. They also offer 45 separate fruit and dry toppings, including Coconut Flakes, Watermelon, New York Cheesecake and Organic Acai Apple Granola.

Pellegrini did not give a timetable Yoppi to open the doors, but will likely be sometime this summer.