Construction is still underway at the University’s new dining hall, Carillon Place. All-you-can-eat dining is now open, but Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt and the new Outtakes won’t open until Sept. 19.
Construction is the cause for the delays, said Director of Dining Services Mike Paulus.
“We focused on getting the dining room finished first,” Paulus said.
Now that the dining room is completed, the construction crew will focus on Pinkberry and the Outtakes.
The construction on both Pinkberry and Outtakes is set to finish Sept. 12, Paulus said. While they won’t be open to the students until Sept. 19, Paulus said the additional delay is because of a week for staff training.
The University will be the second university to offer Pinkberry. Radford University in Virginia will open it’s Pinkberry just three days ahead of the University’s.
While the University missed the opportunity to be the first to have the frozen yogurt franchise on campus, it will still be the first in both Ohio and the Midwest, Paulus said.
Pinkberry can be purchased with meal plan and will not be grouped with the Carillon Place all-you-care-to-eat option.
Instead Pinkberry can be purchased with retail dollars so students can still swipe their BG1 Card for yogurt.
Pinkberry caters to the same age group as the University, 18 to 24 year olds, which Paulus said was something that impressed him. He also liked that Pinkberry does not advertise, choosing to tell people of their product using only the Internet and social media, which also plays to the college demographic.
“[It’s] one more piece in our brand portfolio that adds variety for our students,” Paulus said. “[We’re] trying to bring unique brands here that students already know.”
Jon Zachrich, former USG auxiliary affairs chair said he’s excited for the new dining option. Zachrich was involved in mapping out the new dining halls this past school year.
“I think it was chosen just for the fact that we don’t have anything like it in our area,” Zachrich said. “It’s something new; any student will find something they like.”
When looking for food options for campus, Paulus said he tries to find something that isn’t already available in the community.
“I thought it was a really great product, but it’s not so much the product,” Paulus said. “It’s all about customer service.”
Pinkberry will be staffed mostly by students and some Bowling Green citizens. The management staff was sent to California during the summer for three weeks of training in an already established Pinkberry store.
Junior Courtney Snider had not previously heard of Pinkberry, but she said she eats at the new dining halls frequently and will probably give the new addition a chance.
“It sounds really healthy, and I like to stick to a healthy diet here,” Snider said. “If it’s really good I might try it.”
The Outtakes at Carillon Place will also open Sept. 19, but it won’t offer the same concept as the Outtakes at Kreischer and Offenhauer, Paulus said.
“We already offer those,” Paulus said. “[This one] is designed to have more variety.”
The Outtakes at Carillon Place is approximately 1400 square feet with no frozen section, Paulus said. The store is more for grabbing things and going with snack items.
The Pinkberry is close to Outtakes and is basically inside the store, Paulus said.
Although the new Outtakes and Pinkberry frozen yogurt won’t open until mid September, Paulus sampled some of the yogurt from the Pinkberry brand and said it tasted good, but when asked what his favorite flavor was he simply shrugged.
“It’s yogurt,” Paulus said. “I’m more of a caffeine guy.”