More than a month after the predicted opening of the campus Cuzzins Yogurt location, the shop has yet to open for business.
In February, co-owner Jeanie Patricks said the store at 1866 N. High St. would open “no later than April 1.” However, the pre-construction work took longer than she foresaw.
“The permitting process always takes longer than you expect,” Patricks said.
Plans must be submitted for city approval, and then resubmitted for approval when minor changes are made, making even small alterations a setback.
Some students have been disappointed by the delay.
“It devastates me that I’m left with a frozen yogurt void,” said Julianna Paterra, a fourth-year in molecular genetics.
Patricks said she is expecting the store to open “by Memorial Day, maybe earlier.”
Students leaving Columbus for the summer will only have a few days to visit the shop, but Patricks said the “ghost town” campus will help them prepare for fall.
“We’ll be getting all the bugs out,” she said.
Some students, however, think this will hurt the business.
“They probably would have made more money if they had opened earlier,” said Jackie Tesorero, a third-year in marketing.
To accommodate students, Patricks said she plans on having the store open longer hours than other Cuzzins locations.
“We believe we will have to open at 11 (a.m.) instead of 12 (p.m), and stay open until 11 (p.m.) instead of 10 (p.m.),” she said, due to students starting class early in the morning and staying out later in the evenings.
To staff the new store, Patricks said they will need to hire 15-18 people, and are accepting applications at the Lane Avenue location.
Patricks also said they will be launching a new product to go along with the new store, and while she wouldn’t say what it is, she called it a product “students at Ohio State will embrace.”
