By SCOTT D. JOHNSTON
As summer gets into full swing, business is booming in Ocean Shores, with more new stores and an eye-catching upgrade at a familiar establishment.
Two of the new kids on the block are Surely Sweet Frozen Yogurt at 888 Pt. Brown Ave. NE and Seaside Liquidation Outlet, across the street and down a block in the Home Port Plaza, at 865 Pt. Brown Ave. NE. Toward the other end of the Pt. Brown business strip, Playtime Family Fun has unveiled a new fleet of flashy bumper cars.
Surely Sweet Frozen Yogurt
Long-time Ocean Shores resident Shirley Holman and her family opened the Surely Sweet Frozen Yogurt shop to steady business Memorial Weekend. She operated the Kids Korner Day Care here for 15 years before closing it in 2016. Since then, she and husband Billy have been looking for a small business that “she can take care of without hiring a lot of extra help,” Billy said.
A trip to Long Island, NY, last summer, where their son Josh attended a guitar camp, ended up providing inspiration and a real-world example. Billy explained that “around the corner from the 120-year-old hotel where we stayed in Roslyn, NY, was a little yogurt shop called ‘Yolo.’” They found that “you really can’t tell the difference between this and soft serve ice cream,” and the operation could be pretty simple, the hardest work being keeping the equipment clean and switching flavors.
Shirley’s husband has been a general contractor on the North Coast for many years, and in fact built the building that houses his wife’s business more years ago than he’d like to admit, when he was just 18. Since then the structure has been home to several businesses, most recently Kyoto Teriyaki.
“He gutted the whole place and fixed it up for me,” she said, then went to Missouri in the dead of winter to buy frozen yogurt machines.
Surely Sweet offers eight different flavors and four swirl combinations via four machines. The selections include standards like chocolate and vanilla, some no sugar added flavors and a couple of nonfat sorbets. Some flavors will stay; many will rotate. The tasty treats can be finished with a selection of 33 toppings including fresh fruit, hot fudge and hot caramel.
Customers build their own desserts at the rate of 49₵ an ounce. Shirley said they usually come out in the $3-5 range. The shop also offers bottled beverages.
Shirley, Josh and other family members will run the shop this summer until Josh starts classes at Grays Harbor College in the fall. He plans to do two years at GHC, then transfer to the prestigious Berkeley School of Music in Boston.
Through the summer, Surely Sweet will be open seven days a week at 11 a.m., with closing at 8 p.m., 10 p.m. on weekends, or later. More information can be found on their Facebook page, Surely Sweet.
Seaside Liquidation
Amy Mohrling has been in the retail liquidation business more than 20 years. She’s been looking to open a store here since her family moved to Ocean Shores four years ago, and in April, she debuted the Seaside Liquidation Outlet in the former location of the Captain’s Attic consignment shop.
Her focus is on “everyday items people need,” including a growing produce selection, general merchandise and “fun stuff,” she said.
She got into retail liquidation because “I’m a cheapskate,” she grinned, “thrifty to a fault.” She’s found that selling folks everyday items at bargain prices “is really a lot of fun. They’re happy because they always get a good deal, and I’m making money – it’s very gratifying.”
And, she appreciates the response she’s received since opening in late April. “The community has been super awesome, just really, really welcoming.”
The store is open through summer from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. They accept EBT payments. Their phone is 425-220-1229 and their Facebook page is Seaside Liquidation Outlet.
Playtime Family Fun
It’s not every day that someone buys a new car, let alone 10 new cars, but that’s what Playtime Family Fun owner Mike Doolittle did recently, when he spent over $100,000 to replace his fleet of aging bumper cars.Most bumper cars are foreign-made, but Doolittle found a company in Ohio to supply 10 shiny new vehicles with improved safety features that have allowed him to lower the minimum height requirement by four inches, better maneuverability, and flashy LED lighting.
As he watched a dad gently coaxing a young driver through what was likely his son’s first experience behind the wheel of a powered vehicle, Doolittle observed, tongue firmly planted in cheek, “It’s pretty rough getting paid to make people happy!”
Playtime and its next-door sister business, Peppermint Parlor, are open seven days a week, with hours varying seasonally. More information is available online at the Facebook pages, Playtime Family Fun and Peppermint Parlor, on the website, www.playtimefamilyfun.com, and by phone at 360-289-0572.
