Jason Shaw
- Debbie Bankert (in Sweet Creations t-shirt) entertains friends at the shop's grand opening party in April 2013.
Citing an over abundance of local frozen yogurt stores and declining sales throughout the industry, Sweet Creations Frozen Yogurt in the Bristow Center will permanently close Sept. 27.
"It is with great sadness that Sweet Creations FroYo will be closed due to market saturation and declining sales beginning Saturday, Sept. 27th. We thank you, our wonderful customers, for supporting us," co-owner Debbie Bankert posted on Facebook. Bankert told the staff Monday. "Five of our seven staff members have been with us since the beginning and our announcement was a very difficult one." Bankert said. "We have become like family and there were many tears and hugs with promises of staying in touch." The shop, which opened to the public April 19, 2013 has received wide acclaim for its non-powdered products throughout the local community. Sweet Creations was a fixture at local events such as Braemar Day and The Taste of Prince William. The Prince William County Chamber of Commerce also named Sweet Creations’ frozen yogurt "Best Dessert" for 2013 during its "Cuisine de Commerce" event. Bankert, who owns the store with her husband Tom, will continue to offer their portable operation for special events. "Our "FroYo to Go" with a mobile machine will continue to operate," she said. "Please keep us in mind for your upcoming events." She added that Tom will continue as a general contractor (
http://www.remodeling-northernvirginia.com/ ) and Debbie will be returning to her real estate career.
"We are 'people' oriented and love serving others as modeled through Jesus Christ," she said. "We did our best to give all that we had in this venture."
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The Bankerts will also continue with their missionary efforts in Colombia, South America; they hope to facilitate the building of a bible college.
