Forever Yogurt, Chicago’s popular self-serve frozen yogurt vendor, recently announced that it will be opening two new locations in Lincoln Park. The locations will be on Fullerton and Clark and Diversey – close to DePaul. Both are tentatively planned to open sometime in June.

“We’re planning on opening both stores around the same time in the next few weeks,” said Ahmad Yilmaz , Forever Yogurt chief brand officer and co-founder. “One of the things that separate these new locations from the others is that they’ll be paying tribute to the history of the neighborhoods in the form of a mural that will be featured inside the store.”

Forever Yogurt is currently in talks with DePaul about incorporating some references to the university within the mural. This was previously done with the locations in Evanston and Naperville.

“We recently opened a location in Evanston – close to Northwestern – and we incorporated some things from the school within the mural,” said Yilmaz. “They were really happy with how it turned out and we’re hoping we can do something similar with DePaul. We recently showed them a preliminary design of the mural which they were receptive to.”  

When asked whether frozen yogurt is just another food fad similar to what cupcakes were a few years ago, Yilmaz answered that it’s a question he gets from a lot of people.

“Frozen yogurt has already been around a long time – since the late 70s,” said Yilmaz. “And in that regard, it has already proven its longevity.”

Yilmaz attributes Forever Yogurt’s success to its unique self-serve concept, something he says Forever Yogurt was the first to introduce in the business. The product also tastes more like creamy ice cream and less like tart yogurt, which has won many people over (as have the health benefits). And by making yogurt taste like ice cream, a frozen treat that has stood the test of time, Yilmaz believes frozen yogurt can do the same.

Forever Yogurt has come a long way since opening its first location three years ago in Wicker Park. Since March of last year, the company has been franchising out rapidly with great success and even plans to open its first international location in Panama later this year.

However, it isn’t all smooth sailing for the company. Sales do curve downward dramatically during the winter months when Chicagoans want to stay warm. To counter slumping sales of frozen yogurt, the company introduced “Froth” last year – its signature hot chocolate.

“Froth has been doing really well during the winter,” said Yilmaz. “And it has helped us out even with sales.”

Yilmaz said that there are currently no plans to branch out and introduce any new additions to the menu besides frozen yogurt and hot chocolate. He explained that the company wants to keep it basic as far as menu items go. However, there are plans to introduce even more frozen yogurt flavors.

“Dannon currently makes our flavors and they have an amazing amount of variety,” said Yilmaz. “We’re rotating flavors in all our locations to keep things fresh.”

Yilmaz explained that Forever Yogurt puts a great deal of emphasis on marketing itself through social media. During the elections last year, the company created an election-themed promotion on their official Facebook page where customers could vote for their favorite flavors.

The company has also been awarding the first 100 customers to its new locations with a whole year’s worth of free yogurt – a promotion the company will be continuing with its new Lincoln Park locations.

When asked about what the company’s most popular flavors are, Yilmaz answered “Mom’s Cake Batter,” “Dutch Chocolate” and “Red Velvet.”

And what is Yilmaz’s favorite flavor?

“Eurotart – it tastes just like regular frozen yogurt,” said Yilmaz.