King of the Mountain: The Yogurt Mountain story

It takes considerable moxie to launch a new business – in food services, no less – during the middle of the country’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. But after years of successfully operating a chain of Blockbuster  franchises, then crafting a quick exit strategy in the dawn of Netflix and moving onto moderate success as the owner of a string of Subways, only to see the launch of the $5 footlong slice deeply into his profit margin, Mountain Brook entrepreneur David Kahn is not a man easily dissuaded.

“My wife Carol suggested that I come up with my own idea that I could franchise and control, while also doing what I enjoy,” Kahn said. “I enjoy frozen yogurt and after visiting the West Coast, where this craze was really starting to hit, I came back and told her ‘I think we need to go into this self-serve direction,’ which is when I began designing Yogurt Mountain.”

But it took more than a great idea. Kahn’s request for a new business loan was  repeatedly rejected. After nine banks turned him down, Kahn’s luck turned around  when Red Stone Federal Credit Union gave him the green light.

Setting his sights on Cahaba Village’s 9000-square-foot addition as a desirable location for his first store, Kahn carefully followed the protracted discussions

between the Mountain Brook City Council and Bayer Properties about the fate of  the proposed addition. When the time was right, Kahn presented his business  concept to Bayer, who accepted, which then put Bayer over the 60 percent  occupancy mark necessary to erect the addition.

That flagship store opened its doors on September 10, 2009. Two years later, Yogurt Mountain opened its 35th location in English Village. Today Yogurt  Mountain is in 15 states. Most stores mimic the original concept, while others are  hybrids, offering both self-serve yogurt treats and the services of Joe Muggs Café,  part of the Books-A-Million chain.

Not surprisingly, Kahn’s success has invited much copycat competition. “Our first  store was, according to our supplier, the number one yogurt store in America,” he  says. “We’ve seen a lot of competition, largely from independents, throughout the country as we’ve continued to grow.”

For Kahn, this competition is the ultimate compliment that his high-risk business  gamble was worthwhile. It has also inoculated him from entrepreneurial arrogance.

“The competition has motivated us to reinvent ourselves every single month of every single day,” he said. “We’re constantly looking at new flavors to roll out to  our customers. Independents can’t do that. They’re not as well capitalized.”

But before the chain’s explosive growth, Kahn was just another hardworking  everyman, rolling the dice of an idea he believed in, and one he hoped others  would as well. He credits his family with helping Yogurt Mountain become a smashing success.

“As we prepared to open our first store, we were overwhelmed. My nephew from  Chicago moved down here to manage the store. My son Ryan, then a seventh grader at Mountain Brook Junior High School, helped out tremendously the first few weekends we were open. We literally had lines out the door. We couldn’t keep  up with what was happening.”

“I remember Mountain Brook playing Vestavia in football and when we got to the store after the game, my wife and I were pouring yogurt mix into the machines while my son was in the back slicing strawberries. And my daughter, Hannah (now a student at Alabama), who I have never seen hold a broom in her entire life,  was out front sweeping the floor, still wearing her Dorians dance outfit and sparkly boots. I looked around and saw my whole family working. It was truly a  family affair that got us going back in September 2009.”

Even after Yogurt Mountain’s success was well-established, Carol and David continued to maintain a certain hands-on approach.

“There were many date  nights when we would go to the store after dinner and work side-by-side for the  next several hours. It was fun! My wife loves seeing a clean topping bar and a  clean store. That was a vision that kind of set the mood early on; we were going to have a clean atmosphere and a fun atmosphere.”

And as anyone who’s indulged at Yogurt Mountain well knows, a huge part of that  fun is in the prep. “Instead of someone behind the counter counting out how many  gummy bears are going into your cup, you’re empowered to fix that dessert yourself,” Kahn said.

And try as you might to keep that cup’s contents on the small side, it’s next to  impossible to do so, hence the name – not inspired by Mountain Brook, as many have speculated, but because with all those delicious flavors and toppings to  choose from, your topped off cup will look like a mountain.

Resistance, as they say, is futile.