Coronavirus Impact: An Interview With the Owner of Froyoz Cedar Park, Texas

We are grateful to Krista Baty, the owner of Froyoz Cedar Park for sharing her story of how the coronavirus pandemic affected her business. Froyoz was a small family-owned business in Cedar Park, Texas. It was started 7+ years ago and it gained the reputation as the community’s “best dessert shop,” known for being fresh, clean, and friendly. Froyoz had a 4.5 rating on Yelp and 4.6 rating on Facebook.

Timeline of events

Interview with Krista

When did you start the shop? Can you describe your shop’s history?

Krista: “The shop was opened in 2012 by the original owners, George and Linda Hearne. We (Krista & her husband, David) bought the shop in September of 2017 – so we had it for 2 ½ years. We sold self-serve yogurt, custard, and gelato with 75 topping options. We had frozen quarts available for grab and go. During special times we would also sell baked goods and things like chocolate covered strawberries and cake pops. In February of 2019, we put in a coffee bar to offset the cold months. We were full-service selling drip coffee, espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, cold coffee drinks and our own concoction the “frocinno,” a blend of yogurt and espresso.” 

“Froyoz is a franchise based out of Knoxville, TN. However, we were the only store in Texas and the only one west of the Mississippi. The Hearnes were the original owners. I was a loyal customer when I found out they were closing the business after 5 years. They were ready to retire. They had already sold to another business owner who was going to move the shop to a neighboring town. However, he had a health issue in the family and the Hearnes agreed to take it back and were just going to close. I went in on a Saturday evening with friends and when I was told they were closing, my response was “no one asked me if they could close!” I was distraught since they were the only yogurt shop that had my all-time favorite flavor, salted caramel corn. The choice of toppings was like no other place I had ever been.  That started the conversations of potentially buying the business and 10 days later we closed on the deal.”

When did you start to feel the impact of the coronavirus on sales? What adjustments did you make? Did you lay off employees, how many? Did you cut hours? 

Krista: “We saw immediate impact on sales the first week of March and then when the governor announced that food establishments had to close dining areas and only do take-out, curbside and delivery, it hit the hardest. We started reducing hours immediately and either David or I would work those shifts. We did keep one of our kids on that worked consistently 15 hours per week and one other employee who worked Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. After a couple of weeks, we had to reduce his hours as well. We were open from 7:00 AM-9:00/10:00 PM, 7 days a week. We reduced hours to 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM during this time. We were trying to eliminate some overhead. All of this put David and I working many more hours than we typically did. Initially, we were open 104 hours per week and reduced down to employees working 40 hours per week. That left about 64 hours for David and I to work.” 

Did you hear back from the federal government? Was this the PPP or SBA loan? 

Krista: “We got an original SBA loan, but it was not enough to cover overhead expenses. We have applied for more federal money and have received initial approval. This will cover back rent that is still due.” 

What were you doing while your shop was closed? Was your landlord supportive?

Krista: “Fortunately, I have a full-time job that we live off of. My husband helped run the day-to-day operations of the yogurt shop. He then started doing some deliveries for another company to stay busy and to help pay off some of the expenses that we were still incurring. The landlords simply provided the information about the loans, but there was no break in rent payment. We are behind 3 months in rent and have had to break our lease.  We are uncertain what that will look like moving forward.” 

Looking back, was there anything you wished you did differently or any advice you’d like to give for other shops? 

Krista: “I am not sure what we could have done differently. This area of Texas truly “shut down.” There were 3 other stores within our shopping complex that have gone out of business and closed due to this situation. The month of March starts our busy time of year and the next 6 months of increased sales are what help to get us through the colder months.  When we hit month 3 of being closed, there was no way that we could recover.” 

“Typically, a business begins to start making money at the third year.  We were at 2 ½ when we had to close. We were not turning a huge profit at that point and had not begun to start paying ourselves back for the money we had invested. We were looking forward to that beginning in September/October.” 

This was Krista and David’s closing message to the community:

“It is with great sadness that we announce that we are closing Froyoz permanently. This decision came with much thoughts and prayers and is heartbreaking. We want to say thank you to George and Linda Hearne for have the vision for a frozen yogurt shop in Cedar Park, Paul Malone with Malone’s Coffee for his guidance and most of all for our friends, family and community that have supported us through our adventure. What an amazing experience to bring a smile to people’s faces! Thank you again! We are forever grateful for this community. Krista, David, Mason, Bradyn and Walker Baty.”