Yogurt Barn opens in Sun Valley shopping center
By Karen Brainard
On a Friday afternoon, the new Yogurt Barn in Ramona’s Sun Valley Shopping Center was bustling with customers.
“It’s always busy after school,” said Lauri Youngblood who owns the shop with her husband, Jeff.
She also noted that the Yogurt Barn was holding a fundraiser for Ramona Rebels Cheer with 25 percent of her sales that day going to the cheer team.
Youngblood enjoys hosting fundraisers for school organizations and sports teams, as well as charities. She also sponsors teams and gives gift cards for silent auction baskets. It’s something she has done at her Yogurt Barn in Lakeside.
“A lot of people know about my Lakeside shop,” she said.
When Youngblood and her family moved to Ramona from Lakeside two years ago, she found she missed her yogurt and decided to open a second shop.
The Yogurt Barn conveys a country atmsophere with its signature red barn and dairy cow logo which are carried over into the shop. The seats of the café chairs are covered in the black and white design of a Holstein cow and prices and offerings are listed on a red barn board behind the counter. Youngblood said she continues to decorate the shop with purchases from local stores.
She has also provided employment to a handful of young residents.
“Everybody’s from here. They’re either seniors or have graduated,” she said.
Above each self-serve yogurt machine is a sign, decorated with the barn and cow logo, that identifies the flavor.
Youngblood said she always carries vanilla, tart strawberry, chocolate and peanut butter and rotates other flavors which on that Friday included tart cherry, orange 50/50, red velvet and cupcake. The yogurt is either non-fat or low-fat. Youngblood also carries a non-dairy such as fruit punch, and a no-sugar which on that day was chocolate.
“Our yogurt is way better than anything you can get in Poway,” said Youngblood.
Every year Youngblood attends a yogurt convention to choose flavors. She will pick out a vanilla from about 20 different kinds.
“I’m really picky about flavors,” she noted.
The Yogurt Barn offers sample cups so customers can make sure they like a flavor before buying.
A variety of toppings—fruit, candy and nuts—are available for customers to spoon on their yogurt which is priced by the ounce.
The Yogurt Barn is located at 1334 Main St. and is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sundays - Thursdays, and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Youngblood said during home high school football games, she usually stays open later.