When Solomon Choi opened for business, his goal was to build a brand that resonated with customers.
>When Solomon Choi opened his first 16 Handles frozen yogurt shop in New York City in 2008, his goal wasn’t simply to outsell his competitors—of which there were many—but to build a brand.
“My intent wasn’t to sell the best-tasting yogurt or the healthiest yogurt,” explains the California native who honed his food service skills while working in his parents’ Japanese buffet restaurants. “To me those are just attributes of the product. I look at brands like Apple and Starbucks where it’s not just about the products themselves, but more about what it means to be a customer of the brand. That’s what I want to emulate in my business.”
Time will tell whether the 16 Handles brand will reach iconic status, but it looks as if Choi, 33, is off to a good start. A total of 41 of his self-serve frozen yogurt shops operate on the East Coast, 31 of which are owned by franchisees. Choi decided to go the franchise route in 2010, he says, because of the upfront costs required to open more stores on his own. “We’ll continue to have company-owned stores, but I knew that if I wanted to create a brand, we needed to really have the name out there with multiple locations,” he says.
Choi’s introduction into the world of frozen yogurt treats was almost accidental. After graduating with a marketing degree from the University of Southern California, he went to work for a startup restaurant group in Los Angeles. While he was in charge of overseeing a frozen gelato franchise, Choi realized he was more intrigued with the frozen yogurt shops that were popping up all over Southern California. When he discovered that a family friend owned a self-serve frozen yogurt store in Newport Beach, Choi asked to learn the business.
“I thought the self-serve model was the best,” he says. “Among other things, it doesn’t require a lot of employees.” Over the next three months, Choi put together a business plan for how he would build the 16 Handles brand and promised the family friend that he would not open nearby and become a competitor. Choi chose the 16 Handles name to mirror the fact that customers pull on levers to dispense the shop’s 16 flavors of frozen yogurt.
With startup funding provided by his parents, Choi figured New York City was the best market to conquer first. “Whenever I think about food, fashion, or the top brands, New York always stands out,” he says. His first location was in the East Village, a neighborhood bustling with not only New York University students but also plenty of other dessert shops. Choi was undaunted by the competition. “We opened in July 2008 on a Thursday. By Saturday the line was out the door, and it stayed like that all summer,” he recalls. Other 16 Handles locations in New York City soon followed.
Choi credits the brand’s success to the simplicity of the concept and his emphasis on customer service. “Even though customers are serving themselves, the employees at the register and in the stores are friendly and make the customer feel welcome,” he says.
With more franchise locations opening in the next year, Choi is busy figuring out how he and his team can expand the 16 Handles brand. Two years ago, he hired a pastry chef and is exploring the idea of to-go snacks.
“A great brand is constantly evolving to stay ahead, and that’s what I want to do with this company,” Choi says. “A great idea without the right execution means nothing.”
