• Marketplace, Thursday, October 21, 2010 11:07 AM

Self-serve frozen yogurt is a hot segment in a retail environment that has otherwise been decidedly chilly, Stacey Vanek Smith reports. There are about 22,000 frozen yogurt stores in the U.S. and more are probably on their way because it can cost less than $10,000 to open shop.

But real estate consultant Jim Husted sees a bubble forming. "If you're a successful location, that means three others are coming. It doesn't mean that you've taken over the market, everyone's scared because you're going to beat them."

And Technomic analyst Darren Tristano points out that while the trend to yoghurt may continue among consumers, that's inevitably going to bring the big guys into the picture. "We believe it's going to start to integrate more into full-service restaurants," he says. "One of the big fears is what if McDonald's starts to serve frozen yogurt?"

Read the whole story at Marketplace »