The Bronx has never had a high-end frozen yogurt shop, until now.
Throggs Neck resident Jimmy Reyes and his family recognized the void and filled it by opening Twist It frozen yogurt at 3432 E. Tremont Avenue. Twist It opened on Friday, May 27 and ever since, the hardest part about running the business has been keeping up with the overwhelming demand.
“We didn’t expect that much of a crowd to come in at first,” Reyes said. “But, it’s a nice problem to have.”
The opening was over a year in the making. It all began with Reyes’ wife Lucy and 17-year-old daughter Kristina. Both were frozen-yogurt enthusiasts, but as Throggs Neck residents, they had to travel to Manhattan to a Pinkberry or someplace similar to get their fix.
The family then saw top-flight frozen yogurt shops while vacationing in Florida last summer. That’s when they decided to open their own.
“We were in Miami and saw a couple of places like ours with lines out the door,” Reyes said. “It was my daughter’s and my wife’s idea. So we talked about, and we decided it was a good idea, because there’s nothing like it in the the Bronx.”
By the time the Reyes family decided to open Twist It, summer 2010 was already over. They knew any ice cream or frozen yogurt shop would be doomed if it opened during the winter, so they used the year to plan and pray that nobody else in the neighborhood would beat them to it.
They chose their current location because it is an open-air mini-mall with several other retailers, so Reyes figured traffic to their businesses would drive his and vice versa.
As a contractor, Reyes completely renovated the space on his own. Now, his wife is working 12-hour days, assisted by their daughter, son and three other employees serving 15 flavors of frozen yogurt and smoothies.
John Cerini, president of the Throggs Neck Merchants Association, has been impressed with the gumption it took to start a new business in the current economic climate.
“It’s a tough economy right now,” Cerini said. “I think it’s inspirational to see people invest in properties they don’t own. As the head of the merchants association, it’s refreshing to see.”
Twist It also won points with Cerini for giving him a new destination for his own family.
“Me being a father of four, it’s nice to have a place like this,” he said.
