After hearing the word that the Walt Disney Company gave a proposal to acquire the Pinkberry, Inc. company, two things popped into my head: how fortunate for the Pinkberry owners as they are now multimillionaires and how I wished I was one of the franchisees.

Yet a few weeks down, the proposal was not accepted and the acquisition never finalized. Pinkberry's founder has a greater plan: turning Pinkberry into a nationally recognized frozen yogurt company. Sherry and Young are reinvesting their capital on new store expansion in New York City and Southern California. At this point, we can speculate that each store is in a healthy position financially and that the net profit from each store are achieving great numbers.

In New York City alone, "the Los Angeles-based company signed two leases in Manhattan and one in Queens for stores that will begin operations in early spring. Pinkberry is on track to launch as many as 15 stores in the city this year, and its executives intend to open at least that many in 2008."
Thrifty tenants go to side streets; Subcontractor, law firm head to W. 36th; more yogurt shops, 22 January 2007, Crain's New York Business, Volume 23; Number 4
A new Pinkberry is due to open in the Victoria Gardens shopping center (located in the Rancho Cucamonga city in Southern California) in late March of this year.

The two news show a bold move by the company. Pinkberry is seeking the upper scale retail stores in a highly priced locations. The rent price per square feet in Manhattan will easily costs over $200 in addition to other charges by the lessor. The region where Victoria Gardens resides is an affluent neighborhood. A majority of the companies leasing in the Victoria Gardens mall are high-end tenants and a high percentage of shoppers are middle-upper class members. The rent price per square feet in the Victoria Gardens shopping mall is priced above $100 and not just a simple net lease. As you can tell, Pinkberry is confident in their product line and from experience and financial backings, the company knows that they can achieve a break-even despite the high rent lease.

Pinkberry company carefully analyzed its financial health, the quarterly growth rate, and a vision. And don't you think it would be difficult for Sherry to sell a company she started through sweat and stress? And Pinkberry, Inc. may profit more in the long term by holding unto the company instead of the quick sale to the Walt Disney Company. Either way, we'll see which direction Pinkberry is heading.

Who knows, Sherry is stirring ideas on how to get her product presented in one of the widely viewed television broadcast in California or nationwide. Think Oprah Winfrey Show or even Donald Trump's The Apprentice (sixth season of The Apprentice is being recorded in the Los Angeles region) Mr. Trump wouldn't refuse a few million dollars in advertising feet to showcase Pinkberry frozen yogurt but is it an effective marketing strategy for Pinkberry? Not really.