Owners of Yogurt Pump and Sweet Frog say there's enough room on Franklin for both stores

Hot weather means frozen yogurt for many Chapel Hill residents and UNC students — but now it also means a choice.

The Yogurt Pump, a local favorite of 30 years, is seeing competition from Sweet Frog, a second frozen-yogurt centered business on downtown Franklin Street.

Joe Lurie, co-owner of Sweet Frog, said he thinks Franklin Street can easily hold multiple frozen yogurt shops.

“Yogurt Pump, we have the greatest respect for,” he said. “We don’t think of ourselves as competing with them.”

But Lurie did say he thought his store will do better than YoFrutt — which closed in 2011 — because its larger storefront and better atmosphere attracts students and families.

“We’re hoping people actually stop, sit by and have some good conversation,” Lurie said.

Scott Stephenson, the Yogurt Pump’s owner, said he wasn’t worried about the increase in competition from Sweet Frog.

He said that Sweet Frog is just the most recent of many frozen dessert competitors that are on Franklin Street.

“They come in and our sales go down a little in the beginning, and they leave and our sales come up a little,” Stephenson said in an email.

“All the competition over the years has made us a stronger, better business,” he added.

To make themselves known as an alternative, Lurie said Sweet Frog has tried to gain notoriety among UNC students by partnering with any group that asks them to hold a benefit.

Residents said they liked aspects of both shops.

Kat Guilfoyle, a 26-year-old Chapel Hill resident, said she likes the Yogurt Pump more.

“People are friendly, prices are good,” she said. “Good location right downtown.”

But Guilfoyle said she goes to Sweet Frog as well, and knows both stores are popular.

“They’re both always packed,” Guilfoyle said. “If you’re not from here you probably wouldn’t know about the Yogurt Pump.”

Jessica Clemmons, a UNC junior studying clinical laboratory sciences, said she enjoys using Sweet Frog’s self-serve model.

“I like the atmosphere better than the Yogurt Pump,” Clemmons said.
“It’s lively.”

Yogurt Pump employees declined to comment, but Kati Holland, a Sweet Frog employee, said she loved working there.

“I think Yopo is good too, and it’s traditional,” Holland said. “It’s been around forever, which is awesome.”

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