By Hunter Haskett, Business Manager
As winter closes in on the OBX, the frantic search for something to do on a cold day can be relentless. This year, though, OBX Frozen Yogurt is here to wash away your winter blues.
“We’re excited that we’re going to be open for most of the year because a lot of places do tend to shut down in the winter,” owner Jeff Schwartzenberg said. “Not that froyo is a hot commodity in the winter time, but we feel that we’re going to fill a need for people that have a sweet tooth and can’t find other options.”
Frozen yogurt and winter aren’t words you typically put together, but with additions like a hot chocolate bar and holiday-inspired flavors, OBX FroYo might just become your new hangout spot.
“We’re going to have a few different flavors of hot chocolate to choose from,” Schwartzenberg said. “We’re also going to really try to get creative with our toppings that you can add to the hot chocolate, which includes frozen yogurt and Dippin’ Dots.”
The shop at Southern Shores Crossing (near the OB-Xscape Room and Southern Shores Pizza) is also going to be introducing flavors that fit the holiday season — they’ve already added pumpkin pie and espresso to the mix. In order to make a decision for the Christmas flavors, Schwartzenberg came up with a unique way to settle the tough job. For election day, he had people vote on the two flavors that they wanted. Among the candidates were candy cane peppermint stick, eggnog and red velvet cake.
Special holiday yogurt and a hot chocolate bar are just a few of the many off season specials that are happening at OBX Frozen Yogurt.
Paint night is another idea that was dreamed up by Schwartzenberg to set his shop apart from the many other dessert shops along the beach.
“I reached out to Meghan Sadler (owner of Local Color) and bounced the idea off of her, saying, ‘Hey, I’m opening up OBX Frozen Yogurt in Southern Shores, I want to try and do some unique different things, would you be interested in hosting a paint night here?’ ” Schwartzenberg said. “She was all about it, so we figured let’s get through the summer and launch these in the fall.”
OBX FroYo has since hosted a number of successful paint nights for all ages. Paint night is every Saturday from 6-7:30 p.m., with FroYo being half off and a fee of $25 to paint. Sadler leads each Paint Night, which allows Schwartzenberg to offer customers more than a frozen treat.
“She does such an amazing job of walking people through the process, then at the end we have these incredible paintings that people can take with them,” Schwartzenberg said.
Paint Night will continue after the new year, part of the weekly specials lineup at OBX FroYo. The store offers a sweet deal every day of the week.
“We had huge support from our local community during the summertime, and now, like a lot of places do on the beach, they roll out specials to say thanks to the locals for supporting them, and it gives them an opportunity to come in for different fun things we have going on,” Schwartzenberg said.
Keep up to date on all the deals and other special events with the shop’s social media accounts. The store is on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. You can learn more about the store at http://obxfroyo.com/ .
“The daily specials menu, knowing I have a chance to be a little more creative right now, where I’ve got some extra white space between my ears and summer time we’re really cranking away, but now we want to reward the locals,” Schwartzenberg said.
Junior Hunter Haskett can be reached at hasketthu0318@daretolearn.org
