Pinkberry Opens in Leesburg

They say good things come to those who wait, which is probably why more than 1,000 people decided to wait in line, for 30 minutes to an hour, for , which  officially opens on Friday.

Originating in California, Pinkberry specializes in premium frozen yogurt made with real nonfat yogurt and nonfat milk that is rBST hormone- free. The Leesburg location will serve six distinctive Pinkberry flavors: the signature Original flavor, Chocolate, Mango, Pomegranate, Watermelon and Peanut Butter, all of which were free to the public on Thursday.

“We’re extremely excited,” said Director of East Coast Operations Pete Casey. “We think that Leesburg is great. We pick our locations very carefully and we think that Leesburg, there’s a lot of pent up demand for Pinkberry and obviously you can see that that’s the truth.”

Casey was referring to the line that not only wrapped around the store but continued on the opposite side. Two lines of people faced one another as employees did their best to provide smaller samples to those who patiently waited. However, according to the majority of guests, the wait was well worth it.

“This was our first time trying it and it’s awesome,” said Leesburg resident Maddie Bishop, who was holding the chocolate flavor topped with chocolate brownies and chocolate chips. Her friends, Caroline Scharen and Emily Yorke had both decided to go with the Mango. “It’s the best I ever had. We waited for about an hour. It’s been a while but it was worth it. Totally.”

Leesburg resident Mike Kopp said Thursday was the first time he had tried the frozen treat. After waiting in line for 45 minutes he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“It was worth it,” Kopp said. “I’m not a big ice cream eater but it was great.  I love it and I’ll be back.”

That’s good news for his 8-year-old daughter, Madison Kopp, who said it might be the best form of ice cream that she has ever had.

“I like that it’s really close to my house and I can get really good ice cream here,” she said, adding that she’ll be asking her parents to come back very soon. Both she and her friend Angelina Nunno had also chosen the chocolate.

So what makes Pinkberry so different? Casey said Pinkberry makes all of their yogurt in store with non-fat milk and non-fat yogurt while hand-cutting all of their fresh fruit every day.

What makes it even better is that customers can personalize every yogurt experience with a number of toppings, he said. They include organic gummy bears with no high fructose corn syrup, all natural honey almond granola, and rich, premium Belgian chocolate shavings, among others. 

In addition to immediate consumption, Pinkberry also offers Pinkberry Take Home, which is 25 ounces of Pinkberry that you can take home and store in the freezer.  Pinkberry also offers Fruit Parfaits, Smoothies, and Fresh Fruit Bowls for any time of day.

“We pride ourselves on our extraordinary customer service. We really take pride in what we do and we try to serve with humility and gratitude,” Casey said. “We’re looking forward to being a partner in the community and being a good neighbor to the people who are here.”

Pinkberry will officially be open to the public beginning this Friday, September 2, at 10 am. It is located just behind Wegmans at 1606 Village Market Blvd., Suite 101, in the Village at Leesburg.

Owner Amandeep Brar said he was thrilled to see how many people showed up for free tasting event. It will be interesting to see how well the business does, he said, since the demand seemed to be very high.

“We are very excited to be in Leesburg,” Brar said. “We have been getting a lot of emails from people in Leesburg who have going to Fairfax Corner and they wanted to know when we were opening here. So I’m glad we are here and I’m sure they are happy.”