New Yogurt Shop Mixes up Flavor Combos in Park Ridge

When George and Andy Lagis were growing up, they joked they would someday market their grandfather’s homemade Greek yogurt. That dream was well on its way to becoming a reality on Monday when the Lagis brothers, from Skokie, opened a self-serve yogurt shop in Park Ridge.

Andy said their decision to open Yourgurt was influenced by nostalgia for their grandfather’s yogurt and the increasing popularity of yogurt of all kinds during the last six years. When Andy, 34, a former café manager and barista, and George, 36, a former construction foreman, visited yogurt shops with their family, they had the idea to open a store themselves, Andy said.

“We were just like, you know what, maybe we should try to do something like this,” Andy said.

After planning the business began eight months ago, and preparing the space in Park Ridge for four months, George said he was very excited to finally open the doors on Monday.

“We finally pulled the paper off the windows, and it’s good to see some daylight in this place after working here countless nights in the dark,” George said.

Customers at Yourgurt, 10 S. Northwest Highway, can currently choose between 18 yogurts and 38 toppings to create their favorite dish, charged by the ounce. The yogurt flavors and toppings will change over time, Andy said, which distinguished them other yogurt shops.

Unlike corporate chain stores, they can quickly change toppings, Andy said. They can choose to make the Middle Eastern dessert with walnuts and honey, Baklava, as a topping, and offer it the same day, he said. It takes longer for corporate yogurt shops to switch toppings, he said, because they go through an approval process.

“So we can cater to the community basically on-demand,” Andy said.

George said their yogurt, sourced from Honey Hill Farms in Arkansas, was different than some other more typical brands offered at other shops because there were actual pieces of flavor rather than extract in it, for example strawberry puree and peanuts.

“There’s a little bit of extra love than the other yogurt,” George said.

Yogurt gained favor, Andy said, in part, due to the good health aspect of it. There are more low fat, non-fat and sugar free yogurts than ice creams, he said, and yogurt’s probiotics were healthy for the digestive system. But that’s only part of the cause for the recent trend, Andy said.

While the frozen yogurt boom in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s was more of a full service business model, Andy said, the current yogurt trend was a self-serve model, popularized by chains including Pinkberry, Red Mango and Yogurtland.

“I think that’s really what’s creating the trend is the fact that the customer can decide how they want to customize their cup, and then they pay by the ounce,” Andy said.

Plans to create a special yogurt to follow their grandfather’s recipe were still in the developmental stage, Andy said.

“We’re toying around with the idea of my grandfather’s yogurt; that’s not a hundred percent in the bag yet,” Andy said.

The new business owners were optimistic on their first day open. George said a greater number of customers than they expected came in, and they’re looking forward to growing a community-oriented atmosphere at Yourgurt.

“We’re very thankful to be welcomed by the neighborhood as we have today,” George said.

Yourgurt’s current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Toppings currently available include M&Ms, Oreo cookies, granola, kiwi, raspberries and strawberries.

Yourgurt’s current list of yogurts:

• California Tart, a plain, non-fat yogurt
• Strawberry Sensations
• Cheesecake
• Tahitian Vanilla
• Old Fashioned Peanut Butter
• Triple Chocolate
• Mango Sorbet
• French Van
• Birth Cake
• Cupcake
• Espresso
• Java Caramel Cup Greek