Bloomington is lacking a store in the yogurt and smoothie market that promotes health, said IU alumnus Luke Angermeier. Angermeier will be opening the city’s first Red Mango store on IU’s campus in the fall.
“The Red Mango brand is all about healthy — that’s our main thing,” Angermeier said. “We offer all-natural, nonfat frozen yogurt. It’s not the TCBY yogurt that a lot of people think of — it’s the frozen yogurt that people eat for breakfast.”
Angermeier said he had been looking into different franchise opportunities for a while and liked Red Mango’s aggressive growth plan.
“Red Mango has a pretty strong following as it is,” he said. “They want to be the most well-known smoothie concept in the country.”
Currently, about 70 Red Mango franchise locations are open across the nation, Angermeier said, and in the next three to five months, that number will grow to about 130. Angermeier’s store will be located at 1793 E. 10th St., between Lennie’s and Pizza X.
“Red Mangos have done very well on the West Coast and in Texas that are located near college campuses,” he said. “(They’re) a fit not only for students of IU, but also the people of Bloomington.”
The new store will be somewhat different from other franchise locations, Angermeier said.
“We’re going to be a self-service store,” he said. “People can control how much they want, and there’s going to be a fruit bar where people can load any of the fresh fruit we offer, as well as cereals and granola and stuff like that.”
The store will offer 10 different rotating yogurt flavors that customers can choose from, Angermeier said, and the cost will be determined by weight.
“Currently there are four self-serve Red Mangos that are open right now, but the majority of Red Mangos are going to be self-serve,” he said. “People seem to like to be in control of the product. After doing a lot of research, we found that the self-serve stores do more volume. It just makes for a smoother operation.”
The store will sell yogurt-based smoothies and fresh fruit parfaits as well, Angermeier said.
“They also offer the only probiotic iced tea available,” he said. “Probiotics are actually healthy bacteria found naturally in yogurt. They help your immune system and digestive system.”
Though Bloomington is home to a wide variety of ice cream shops, Angermeier said he does not consider them direct competition.
“We go after the health-conscious person who lives an active lifestyle,” he said. “I think the store will do really well.”