TCBY closes its doors, owner expects to reopen

Let them eat cake. Sweet-toothed students and area residents rained bitter tears last week when they returned from winter break to find that yogurt favorite TCBY was closed. But only for a while. The Locust Street Warehouse yogurt shop has been closed for several days, according to owner Phil Spiegel, but Spiegel said the low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-caloric dairy dessert often topped with chocolate chips will return soon. "I just ran into some problems," Spiegel said. "Absolutely, I look forward to reopening." The shop, which closed suddenly, now stands dark and barren with once full chairs stacked on tables and the yogurt bar empty. "At first I thought it had just closed for the day, but then it never reopened," said Jeff Thomas, a cook at the neighboring Boccie Pizzeria. "I miss the vanilla yogurt and the cookies with the yogurt inside -- and the banana boat sundaes and the the popsicles with yogurt -- man, the whole store was good." But the building's landlord Daniel Lai said yesterday that TCBY's popular product has not gone the way of Troy's eggel, and that students who need their ice-cream substitute fix will soon find refuge when the shop reopens under new management. Lai, who added that his favorite flavor is peanut butter, declined to say why the store was changing hands or who the new owners would be. "We're negotiating and it should be open soon," Lai said. "But we're still talking." Current owner Phil Spiegel said last night he hopes to open the store within a week, but would not comment on whether or not there would be new owners. Students and area residents who "did yogurt" at TCBY said they do not understand why The Country's Best Yogurt is no longer operating, noting that it was always full. "It always seemed like there was a line out the door, especially in the spring and summer," Thomas said. "Those months they made a killing." College junior Jonathan Cutler said he was the manager of the store for two years until early December, several weeks before the store closed. "It was not a good time to be in business, let alone in a highly competitve market like frozen yogurt," Cutler said. "But we were geting by." Cutler added that "if times get better" he believes the store will be in a position to make more money. "We sold a good product, with good service," Cutler added. "It was not a good time to be in small retail business." Arthur Pin, Boccie manager, said yesterday that TCBY's temporary closing will not hurt the restaurant's sales but that it leaves a void since the surrounding stores look into it. "It added to the atmosphere of the Warehouse," Pin said. "It will take away light." Students said that the culinary void may force them to select a new hang-out. "I used to go there quite a bit," Wharton senior Mary Duarte said yesterday. "I'm not heartbroken, it's just a nice place to go with people -- there is no other alternative besides maybe a bar." But Duarte, whose favorite flavor is chocolate-vanilla swirl, added that TCBY's closing will not increase her bar patronage. Local ice cream and yogurt stores said yesterday that the melting down of TCBY has not produced any financial gain. And College junior Bridget Horan, who makes pies and cakes for TCBY, said she was not notified before the store closed. "I just returned from vacation and it was closed," the peanut butter yogurt fan said. "There were University students and people from the community there, so you could meet people you would not see otherwise."

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