Douglas M. Gaus
www.newproductconsultant.com

  

I had the opportunity this weekend to visit and be a customer to a new establishment and their grand opening here in downtown Boise over the weekend...the draw was the offer of $1 frozen yogurts per person sold during their set time frame, an offer too big to pass up for my three frozen yogurt craving kids.

The venue is called Aspen Leaf Frozen Yogurt and it is a current franchise opportunity (all franchises are called "opportunities", which can be either good or bad) and among the countless one's vying for your life's assets if you're thinking about investing in one yourself.  How does this latest franchise try to differentiate themselves from the other businesses craving our disposable income?

• Fun, clean looking establishment with bright modern lights and colors (lime and orange especially)
• Self-serve...get in line and let the gluttony begin (how can you limit yourself, when it's right there in your control?)...remember, we're here for a special treat...a once in a lifetime (or nightly) event!
• Provide spigot dispensers for the frozen yogurt, allowing consumers to pick and pour their chosen tasty flavor in their large looking 16 oz. cup
• Fresh tasting frozen yogurt with flavors not found in "regular" frozen yogurt shops....excellent, again self-serve, toppings (fresh fruit: including berries, blueberries, mango, kiwi; as well as the regular candy and chocolate type sprinkles - my fave was the ones that looked and even felt like real Salmon eggs, and had mango flavoring inside)
• Helpful energetic employees, all wearing fun bright lime Aspen Leaf logoed clothes.

Now for the parts where I think this new franchise missed the mark....

• The $1 frozen yogurts were available for the limited time, during the 3 hours that Saturday afternoon....but how much was their regular pricing?  I looked high and low, and couldn't find a price anywhere!   There were no menu's to be found.  The walls were that clean looking lime green but nothing as far a product information on them. We did overhear an employee telling someone in front of us that we could fill the cup and it would only be $1 up to 16 oz, which they said was pretty hard to go over....but if you did, it would be 42 cents for every ounce over a pound.  I'm assuming 42 cents per oz is the regular pricing, but who knows?
  
• The company name...Do you like it?  It doesn't sound treatingly fun, it sounds franchisee.  "Hey everybody, let's all hop in the car, we're all going to Aspen Leaf!!  I'm treating everyone to unknown priced frozen yogurt!"
• The self serve aspect:  I did observe an employee cleaning the spigot handles while in line...but in general, you may be getting consumers touching the underside of the spigot with their fingers while dispensing....I'm not a germaphobe (at least I don't think I am, and not that there's anything wrong with it) but this could be kind of a health hazard.
• As a wary consumer, I just like to know what I'm getting into, especially liking to know how much something costs...If my whole family of 5 all got a full 16 oz worth of their fun stuff in the cup (like we all did that day) that 42 cents an ounce would work out to a non measly $6.72 per person or a grand total of $33.60 (plus tax)...bring 2 or 3 friends after soccer practice, now we're up to close to $50!!
  

In reading their website http://aspenleafyogurt.com/  it looks like this is just one of four Aspen Leaf franchises currently open.  The original probably opened in Greeley Colorado, and the others include us, San Antonio and Farmington (ID, TX and NM, respectively).   More franchising information and their corporate headquarters can be found at the same Durango, Colorado location listed online.

In clicking on the main links of the site, both "nutrition" and "menu" had the under construction web message "Check back soon...more information will be available in the next few weeks".  I'll give them a little slack that they are in the beginning stages of their fledgling franchise....but....

In summary, it's probably too late for a last minute name change for a stubborn franchisor (some focus group testing might uncover the need for a name that elicits a clearer and funner descriptor for self-serve frozen yogurt).....but pull it together and get us some pricing available to the eye and not just upon verbal request!!


Editor's Note:  I happened to see another strikingly similar self serve frozen yogurt franchise called Orange Leaf, when doing a search on this company...based on number of locations already open, it looks like they were probably ahead of the Aspen Leaf franchise idea....Self serve frozen yogurt franchise opportunities, with the word Leaf in their name are quite the rage!   http://orangeleafyogurt.com/


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I just saw an ad for this for the first time on cable tv last night.  It's called the Mighty Wallet and is a unique twist on traditional wallets, which are normally bulky and hard on your body's alignment.  When sitting down, regular wallets tend to tilt your body to one (uncomfortable) side.  Mighty wallets are made of super thin material, so they minimize the bulkiness of carrying your entrusted financial objects (mainly $$$ and credit card$) on a daily basis.

In checking out the story behind the product, a struggling art student named Terrence Kelleman had been hunting for new and unique uses for Tyvek, the material normally known for express air mail envelopes.  He liked its durability and ability to resist tearing because of it's makings of thousands of hair thin plastic fibers.

His fascination with the fad of making wallets out of duct tape, led to his idea of pushing the duct tape wallet idea one step further....and to make it out of Tyvek instead of duct tape.  A duct tape wallet can be cool for a young teenager making his own wallet in summer camp...but not something anyone earning a real paycheck would like to entrust their green cash, plastic credit cards and pictures of loved ones.

So, he built his company, Dynomighty Design, on the strength of the Mighty Wallet concept, which was originally introduced in 2008...a wallet that is strong but thin, all the while being eco-friendly...or as his company calls the product Mighty Strong, Mighty Thin and Mighty Green.  They sell other items, but the Mighty Wallet is the core line and has the best broad sales appeal.

I really do like the idea and like the product....I would easily part with one bill picturing Alexander Hamilton and one bill picturing Abraham Lincoln to try it out for myself (free shipping if ordered within the US)...the only downside I see, is that looking at the 85 or so Mighty Wallet art work designs, i haven't found one that jumps out at me.  (There is the option to use permanent markers and sketch whatever you want on your own blank one, but I really don't like my own artwork enough to look at it every day, let alone once). 

They do have a few tv designs including Star Trek, Brady Bunch, Taxi and Cheers and for music have a couple Devo ones...but I'd like to see designs with cooler art that are more unique and more contemporary...but maybe some edgier and cooler licensed or non-licensed designs are on the way...that's the only thing about this product that is less mighty for me.

Dynomighty Design also sells other lines, including magnetic jewelry, mighty totes, mighty tags and some other miscellaneous items...Check them out for yourself and maybe buy one you like at http://www.dynomighty.com/