Serenberry (Formerly Greenberry) Frozen Yogurt, Rockville and Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda - Closed

[squidsdc]

Found ourselves in Rockville today, doing some holiday shopping and needing a snack...out of the corner of my eye I spotted Greenberry on the other side of the plaza from Filene's. We thought we'd give it a try since we didn't have time for a "real" lunch!

First, the women at the counter said they have only been open for about 2 weeks, and that this is the first franchise for Greenberry yogurt. Ever. She mentioned her brother-in-law and another sibling, I believe, came up with the recipe themselves and don't use any powders. She said that they are not affiliated with any other "berry" or froyo venture. So that makes me wonder if they are even related to the Greenberry Coffee and Tea?

On to the taste--I must say, this is one of the best I've had...probably second to the froyo we had at Yogurtland in Hawaii this summer. Smooth, creamy, with no "dry" aftertaste. I had the original (tart but balanced) mixed with dark chocolate (intense), with marshmallow, chocolate Flake and candied pecans. Mr. S had the strawberry mixed with dark chocolate and said the strawberry was exceptional.

[cheezepowder]

She said that they are not affiliated with any other "berry" or froyo venture. So that makes me wonder if they are even related to the Greenberry Coffee and Tea?

It sounds like you're right that this is a different store. I found a picture of the Rockville location sign and it looks like this yogurt place is named Greenberry (not Greenberry's) and has a different logo from the coffee shop's plaid logo (see website). Also Rockville isn't listed as a location on the Greenberry's website.

[Heather]

I stopped in on a whim today after an appointment in Rockville. The "original tart" frozen yogurt is delicious.

[jayandstacey]

First, the women at the counter said they have only been open for about 2 weeks, and that this is the first franchise for Greenberry yogurt. Ever. She mentioned her brother-in-law and another sibling, I believe, came up with the recipe themselves and don't use any powders. She said that they are not affiliated with any other "berry" or froyo venture. So that makes me wonder if they are even related to the Greenberry Coffee and Tea?

So this raises two questions:

1. How can one say they are the first of a franchise? Isn't every place, even if the owner has no expansion plans, technically the first of a potential franchise? Isn't that like a baseball player saying this is the first hit of a hitting streak? Just a little hopeful maybe? Or maybe they have funding and agreements and openings in progress for the other locations already. Does that really happen very often? And wouldn't an owner rather have the customers thinking, in week 2, that the focus is on sustaining quality and service, not on the next opening (even if that really is the focus)?

2. Why would one open such a place when another like-named company is so local and so relatively similar in offering? Yeah, I know coffee and yogurt are different. But not that much different. I could see if there was a greenberry cleaning service - no problem. But why create the potential problem right off the bat?

Maybe they are related to Greenberry coffee in some tangential way? That might answer both questions. But the store mentioned the opposite of this....

I haven't been or even seen the place. So I this isn't meant as criticism, rather just curious how this stuff works.

[thetrain]

So this raises two questions:

1. How can one say they are the first of a franchise? Isn't every place, even if the owner has no expansion plans, technically the first of a potential franchise? Isn't that like a baseball player saying this is the first hit of a hitting streak? Just a little hopeful maybe? Or maybe they have funding and agreements and openings in progress for the other locations already. Does that really happen very often? And wouldn't an owner rather have the customers thinking, in week 2, that the focus is on sustaining quality and service, not on the next opening (even if that really is the focus)?

2. Why would one open such a place when another like-named company is so local and so relatively similar in offering? Yeah, I know coffee and yogurt are different. But not that much different. I could see if there was a greenberry cleaning service - no problem. But why create the potential problem right off the bat?

Maybe they are related to Greenberry coffee in some tangential way? That might answer both questions. But the store mentioned the opposite of this....

I haven't been or even seen the place. So I this isn't meant as criticism, rather just curious how this stuff works.

Greenberry's in Mclean serves frozen yogurt with toppings - so there really are some obvious Trademark Law issues at play here.

The name choice is really weird if they are not related to Greenberry's - Greenberry's seems to have a straight forward case and should send them a cease and desist letter asap.

[bookluvingbabe]

I think I saw a location at Montgomery Mall last week.

[Bob Loblaw]

It looks like they've changed their name, most likely for the reason mentioned above. For a while, the sign looked like it said "gerenberry" and I always wondered why they didn't fix it. Now I see they have repurposed the lowercase "g". Since the loop isn't closed, it kind of looks like an "s". So they just repositioned it higher and now their name appears to be "Serenberry."

I don't really like frozen yogurt, but this would be my favorite in the area if I had to choose one. The gf loves the stuff and I always try one bite at each place, just to check if I still dislike it. It's the same with coleslaw...

[DonRocks]

I believe Serenberry to be closed, even though I can't find anything about the closure on the internet - the phone number is disconnected. Does anyone have any information? They used to have a Rockville and Bethesda location, and also used to be known as Greenberry.

[SeanMike]

Are they actually the same as Greenberry, or just who replaced Greenberry? Because Greenberry started in Charlottesville...and there appears to be one in McLean as well. Those seem to be up and running.

[squidsdc]

I think the one I Rockville was in the mid-pike plaza which has been razed and redeveloped.

[DonRocks]

I think the one I Rockville was in the mid-pike plaza which has been razed and redeveloped.

And the one in Montgomery Mall is closed also - they've been gone for a couple of years.