When Seven Creamery opened next to Ganko Ittetsu Ramen on Thursday — replacing longstanding frozen yogurt shop FroyoWorld — ice cream upstaged frozen yogurt on Thayer Street, at least for the time being.
Seven Creamery will primarily sell premium ice cream, as well as milkshakes, acai bowls and some frozen yogurt. According to Chris Barbosa, manager and partial owner of Seven Creamery, the store will focus on using “fresh products,” specifically from Rhode Island farms.
FroyoWorld’s parent company, FroyoWorld LLC, has a “small stake” in Seven Creamery and still leases the property on Thayer St. Seven Creamery took over the store in June but kept the FroyoWorld name for several months to maintain stability, Barbosa said.
“The partners at FroyoWorld had been wanting to venture into ice cream, but high-quality ice cream,” Barbosa said. “We feel like frozen yogurt is on a decline, and we just wanted to move onto something new.”
FroyoWorld opened a location on Thayer St. in 2011 and was originally founded in 2008 by brothers Dennis and William Bok. Dennis Bok did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Instead of the self-serve style of FroyoWorld, Seven Creamery allows customers to place an order at a front counter, which is then prepared in a back room and brought out by an employee.
Varun Mehta RISD ’22, was surprised about the switch from FroyoWorld to Seven Creamery. “I came because I wanted froyo, which they do still have on the menu, but it just seems like the froyo part has disappeared, and there’s nothing in this place anymore,” Mehta said.
Sunny Lee ’22 used to frequent FroyoWorld but enjoys the new iteration. “I like how they have acai bowls now,” Lee said.
Barbosa described the competition for customers with other locations on Thayer St. “Everyone’s disposable income is getting divided by all these places,” he said. “But this is a very busy street, so we feel that there’s definitely potential for us.”
Seven Creamery sits squarely across the street from Ben and Jerry’s, a national ice cream chain.“They’re pretty much doing almost the same thing we are,” Barbosa said. Seven Creamery’s local sourcing allows the business to maintain lower prices, he added.
The name “Seven Creamery” comes from the original concept for the store, which was to sell seven signature acai bowls and seven signature ice cream flavors. Although Seven Creamery eventually abandoned the idea of limiting flavors, the name stuck.
Seven Creamery’s only location is on Thayer St., but the company is looking to expand to a location in Boston and a seasonal location in Misquamicut Beach for next summer.
According to Barbosa, Seven Creamery will be launching multiple promotions in the coming weeks, including on Instagram and a “free scoop day.”
Ben Glickman is the 132nd editor-in-chief and president of The Brown Daily Herald. He previously served as a metro editor and oversaw the College Hill and Fox Point beat, in addition to writing and editing about city politics, COVID-19 and the 2020 election. He is the co-creator of the Bruno Brief, The Herald's first news podcast. In his free time, he is passionate about birds (also tweeting) and eating way too spicy food.
