Yogurtland, which opened its Wallingford shop just shy of of two years ago, will be closing its Wallingford shop effective 10 pm tomorrow (Sunday the 27th). A few of the employees will move to the Lynnwood branch or to the University District branch, but many of the folks who have worked there recently have already gone back to school.
We spoke with Eric, a shift leader, who told us they were moving this branch to Lynnwood because it just wasn’t profitable: “It just wasn’t seeing as much foot traffic as an area like Capitol Hill,” he said.
The story sounds similar to that told by American Pie when they closed their Wallingford shop recently:
We opened our second location, in Wallingford, almost two months ago and we closed the doors last Thursday, doh! Oh well, that’s how the pie crust crumbles. We were hoping for (and told about ) lots of foot traffic and lots of moms w/ baby strollers but they didn’t appear. I guess they were on vacation.
Wallingford Center has its own challenges for businesses, but you don’t have to get too far from the Wallingford core to see the same issues.
I remember when that spot was Sunnyside Market, then Boston Market and Quiznos, plus long stretches of vacancy. Who remembers what else has tried their luck in that location?
(Thanks to Jen H. for the tip!)
I remember when it was part of “Stinker’s” gas station in the 70’s, and they had a Rainbow Pop store in that building
Note to CVS: Just because you have a parking lot, it doesn’t mean people will shop there.
I think they it’s easy to blame low foot traffic. My sense from visiting both was that American Pie had a good product but poor planning and marketing, whereas YogurtLand had a product I didn’t care for – I was part of the neighborhood foot traffic walking by YogurtLand on the way to Fainting Goat many times.
That doesn’t look like a foot traffic oriented site to me anyway. Of course you can get there on foot, but the storefront is across the parking lot from the sidewalk. Auto oriented, typical for N 45th east of Corliss N. People who drive to lunch on N 45th are probably in building trades, plumbers etc. who happen to be in the neighborhood? Just guessing. Maybe a yogurt lunch isn’t for them.
Sad to see Yogurtland go. It was certainly a pleasure to have it in walking distance or on my way home. 🙁
Sorry to see Yogurtland go. My grandkids love it. And Barbara I remember Vic’s Stinker station from the 50’s and 60’s. I guess it was there a long time. I think I also remember gas at $.25 cents a gallon.
I never cared for that location, but my kids liked the froyo. My family and I rode our bikes there once, only to realize there was no where to park bikes, just cars. We started biking to Zoey Yogurt instead.
And as for the pie place, I missed that it was even there. Agree with the comments on that post… the Wallingford Center does need an anchor tenant. I make a point of going Tweedy & Pop’s, but I only have so many hardware needs. I get my kids haircuts there, and I hit up the smaller shops for gifts at times. I’m amazed to hear there was once a bookshop there.
Does any one else wonder how a business can decide on success or failure after only two months?? Who wrote that business plan?
Not enough foot traffic. Auto traffic avoids 45th like the plague. Doesn’t sound like a good neighborhood for any business.
Steve
There would be more foot traffic on 45th if it were tidied up a bit, and if 45th was more pedestrian friendly. On the weekends, I often walk on side streets just to avoid the continual traffic jam.
45th Street: No one drives there anymore, it’s too crowded.
Wallingford only has ~20k people, whilst Ballard and Capital Hill have more than twice that in a population-dense environment. Perhaps it’s time we got over our ego and realized the boutique businesses we love in those neighborhoods will not thrive here. Different demographic, different make up of commercial properties.
Really – we’re lucky anyone would choose Wallingford. You should shop and spend your money with anyone brave enough to venture into such an unwelcoming neighborhood.
45th functions as an important arterial corridor, one of only a few east west corridors to and from the freeway, Aurora, Fremont, the U District and Ballard. With the increasingly dense apartment and condo building going on in Ballard, here, and our other neighboring communities, 45th is congested pretty much most of the time now. The sidewalks along 45th are narrow and unappealing. Most of Wallingford’s businesses must front 45th – we are not a street deep shopping community like Ballard or Fremont or the U District, with the exception of a bit of Wallingford Ave. It doesn’t make for a pleasant pedestrian experience. I mostly skirt 45th by walking one or two blocks down/up.
@12: According to these 2013 stats, Ballard’s population is 10,000, while Wallingford’s population is 16,000. Wallingford’s median household income is 40% higher than that in Ballard, making it a very attractive neighborhood for “boutique businesses”.
@Doug Zillow seperates Ballard out into multiple neighborhoods. Combine them, then take averages and you’ll find the gap isn’t what you think. Naturally given the demographic of families vs. single folk — the median household income will be favored with Wallingford since it’s household (i.e. two earners).
@15: But when you combine Zillow’s Ballard-adjacent neighborhoods (East Ballard, Sunset Hill, Loyal Heights and Whittier Heights) to get to that more-than-twice-the-population-of-Wallingford number, density drops significantly.
I love Yogurtland, and really liked being able to walk there. This news makes me really sad.
The ‘mix your own yogurt, add toppings, pay by weight’ has gone from non-existent to Yogurtland, Menchies, Yeti, Zoe, etc., most with multiple branches. This is a foot-traffic issue, but only in the sense of a market saturation problem. The concept is just overdone.
I really enjoyed Yogurtland and frequented this location since it is only a few blocks away from my home. It’s too bad that it wasn’t profitable. I’m sad that today is their last day!
I’m glad Wallingford spits out these chain businesses on a regular basis. Bye Subway. Bye McDonald’s. Bye Yo-land. We’ll keep our Fainting Goat and Molly Moon’s thank you.
@Dogo, you’re absolutely right. Two such places opened downtown within two blocks of one another late last year. One is thriving; the other has already been replaced.
I don’t think Yo.land did a good job of advertising. When I remembered it was there, we’d visit. It was hella cheaper than Zoe’s which was a plus for me..but I never really travel down that far on 45th. If they were closer to the center of Wallyhood – like IN the W Center – or closer to QFC I might have gone more often..but I also agree, I don’t like the cookiecutter places, let’s keep Wallyhood diverse and interesting!
I wondered how they could sell froyo for so cheap and make a profit. It was a really good value and my kids loved it. Sorry to see it go. The taste wasn’t for me though.
I land on the side of preservation for most of the 45th St corridor, but if ever there was a building/block that screamed out for redevelopment into a multistory mixed use building, that one is it.
“Hoping for” foot traffic? Next time you might want to consider surveying a location instead of going off word of mouth and “hope.” Wallingford has foot traffic, but that location is about 2 blocks west of where it stops.
I think they did themselves no favors when they stopped allowing food trucks to use the parking lot. It seemed a natural fit to me – get some chow at the truck and dessert at Yogurtland.
My family is very disappointed. This was a frequent destination for our family – either after a school event or as good reason for the whole family to walk the dog. My pocketbook, however, may be happy…..
@ #20
I am glad you can revel in the demise or failure of a local businessman.
Here is the evil franchise owner!!!
http://www.redmond-reporter.com/business/141608143.html
Shall we draw and quarter them?
Yogurtland was much more supportive of local public school events than Molly Moon’s (discounts? no way!), so that will be missed. Plus the Yogurtland space was a fun place to meet after school events. I’m a big fan of Fainting Goat also – they know how to show appreciation to local volunteers.
@ #28. Thank you. You jarred my memory to Molly Moons, which is also a chain now! Yes, of course, love your Molly Moons, everyone, but do be conscious to the fact that a store being a chain isn’t what you don’t like. You want a certain “type” of chain.
I am sorry either business failed. Bad for all of us in one way or another.
@Claudia Good point!
There’s a huge difference between a local business with 3 locations and a franchise with hundreds.
certainly there is a difference but in the end, in this example, they are both small business owners, the guy doesn’t own Yogurtland and hundreds of locations. I think he had 3 or 4.
Absolutely true, but most McDonald’s and Subways are technically owned by small businesspeople as well. Under that definition of ‘chain’ Trophy, Irwin’s and Miyabi are as well, and I think that’s misleading.
Nevertheless, we shouldn’t failure on any small business owner. Or franchisee.
*shouldn’t wish failure…
Ugh. Comparing Molly Moon’s and Irwin’s to national franchises is ridiculous. Yes, the franchisees are small business owners, but A LOT of the money they make is paid back to the parent company. In other words, it LEAVES the market, whereas revenue made by local chains is largely reinvested in the local economy.
Also, much of the ingredients used by small local “chains” like Molly Moon’s and Irwin’s comes from local vendors (sometimes within their own neighborhoods), while McDonald’s, Subway and their ilk use national (and international) vendors.
And I’m no Molly Moon fan-boy, but I remember her playing an active role in Seattle’s new paid sick leave law. I’d love to know where national chain franchisees stand on that law. I’m sure their parent companies hate it.