One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Yogurtland Chief Steps Down
Photo by ajcreencia via Flickr
Having vanquished all his competitors, Yogurtland's founder is stepping down as president and CEO.
Phillip Chang, 50, will stay on as the Irvine-based company's chairman, but will focus his life on Christian missionary work, the O.C. Register reports. Yogurtland, which is privately owned, professes to be more profitable than ever.
The Yogurtland stores, with their signature Papyrus-font wall displays extolling the health benefits of soft-serve ice cream, are truly the last-man standing after the take-no-prisoners frozen yogurt wars of the mid-aughts. Yogurtland dashed progenitor Pinkberry's concept of trendy slightly-tart flavors and carefully hand-topped treats in favor of a serve-yourself model that relies on a wide variety of flavors with more saccharine leanings.
Ultimately, Yogurtland's scorched-earth expansion laid waste to the equally rapidly expanding Pinkberry, Red Mango, Céfiore and more; while a handful of stores from those other chains still exist, they hardly dominate the landscape like Yogurtland does.
The company "continues to experiment with new flavors and concepts at its research and development lab in Irvine," the Register reports.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
