Three New Businesses Bringing Self-Serve Fro-Yo to Doylestown

Doylestown's status as a frozen yogurt desert is coming to an end.

No fewer than three local businesses soon will be serving up the creamy frozen treat at self-serve, pay-by-the-weight locations.

One already is open.

The new Sweet Spot restaurant on Doylestown's North Main Street serves Caribbean-inspired cuisine, but it also includes a frozen yogurt bar with an assortment of fresh fruit and candy toppings.

In the Barn Plaza shopping center on Rt. 611, near Marshall's and Kohl's, Tyler Walton and his contractor father Ken Walton are putting the finishing touches on the custom-designed interior of their first business, Yogurtree.

And behind the plate glass windows of 12 S. Main Street, a Doylestown man and his business partner are building their dream business.

Electricians, plumbers and contractors are turning the space that used to be home to a Rita's franchise into HandleBar.

Business partners and friends Bhupinder Singh Ubhi and Amey Kanade put their life savings into their business, but found themselves a bit short of where they wanted to be to open.

So they started a funding campaign on Kickstarter.com, an online funding platform where backers can pledge money to help get a creative project off the ground. Donors could earn rewards including free yogurt, a Mercer tile magnet, or more, depending on the amount of the donation.

The Kickstarter funds would be used to replace an outdated air conditioning system and to hire employees, the pair said.

When Doylestown Patch first wrote about the project, only 20 backers had pledged $677 toward the HandleBar project, and skeptics might have questioned whether the two could reach their goal of raising $7,000 by May 5.

In the end, 84 backers pledged $7,198 to make the project a reality.

Ubhi, who moved to Doylestown with his wife about four years ago, told Doylestown Patch this week that they were thrilled with the results of the campaign.

"We at HandleBar cannot thank Doylestownians enough for the support they have shown," Ubhi said, adding that they expect to start hiring employees this week.

"If everything goes as per plan we should be in a position to start serving our patrons their favorite flavors of frozen yogurt and toppings in two to three weeks," Ubhi said.

The two hope to use locally grown ingredients for some of their toppings, and also plan to offere more exotic flavors, including cardamom, Persian dates and gulab jamun, a popular Indian dessert.

To learn more about HandleBar, Sweet Spot or Yogurtree, click on the links to visit their websites.