Franchisee Spotlight: New Opening Exeter, California

Sisters Leslie Rivas, Tracey Stearns, and Stephanie Lusk were all born in Visalia, CA.  The three sisters and their mother, Carol Nickel, moved to Idaho for eight years during their childhood, but returned to California where they all graduated from Exeter High School. All three sisters are college graduates; Leslie- UC Davis, Tracey- Cal. Leslie teaches first grade in Woodlake, Tracey is a Resource Specialist at Exeter High School, and Stephanie works for Connections Academy in Visalia.  The three very close sisters decided to go into business together and claimed that, “TCBY will be our ‘second job’!”

How did you learn about the brand?

TCBY was a brand we were familiar with because there were local stores in Visalia years ago. They had since closed and we wanted to bring some fun and excitement to the community.

Why did you choose an opportunity with TCBY?

We researched other franchises and TCBY was willing to come to a small town and we knew TCBY was known for its high quality product. We would of course like to supplement our teaching jobs, but we saw it as a fun project we could work on together and it would be great for the community.  We didn't research other franchising concepts.  We thought self-serve frozen yogurt would be perfect for our location.

What challenges have you overcome to get where you are now?

I can't think of any major challenges we have experienced or overcome.  When you have three sisters working on a project together, it’s nice to divide and conquer. This was more a fun pet project so it’s been a relatively painless journey.

What makes your business different, what are you able to bring to the area that other frozen yogurt shops can’t?

We will be the only self-serve frozen yogurt shop in town. Currently, the closest one is 15 miles away.  We have a strong connection to the community and we want to provide a fun, friendly location that will be a bright spot for the residents of Exeter; as well as for visitors to our community to enjoy.

What are your expansion or development plans? What is your end goal with TCBY?

Expansion would always be a possibility.  Our end goal would be for our TCBY to be a thriving, successful business that we enjoy owning and participating in. Our local paper the Foothill Sun Gazette has already asked to do a story on us.