Not every kid who ever worked at an ice cream shop over the summer season can say that they’ve successfully converted that experience into a business of their own, but it turns out that Susie Collins’ training on the manufacture of waffle cones a number of years ago has nicely evolved into a new shop that will create a whole lot of hoopla beginning today.
Collins, who was born and raised in Buchanan but now lives in Stevensville, is the new owner and operator of Hoopla in the Hollywood Road plaza that is also home to Panera Bread, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Five Guys Burgers & Fries and other businesses.
Her bright and airy new shop will likely be a very busy place offering 21 different flavors of frozen yogurt of all kinds 7 days a week at 3260 Niles Road where it intersects with Hollywood Road just off of I-94.
Perhaps she was destined for this opportunity years ago when she trained to make waffle cones at Punky’s Place in Buchanan and became so good at it that she ended up training dozens of other young people who worked there over several years.
It’s still one of her favorite things to do, but now she’s in charge of the full team at Hoopla Frozen Yogurt, a 1,300 square foot emporium of frozen treats and fresh toppings galore. That team currently consists of 10 employees who man the brightly colored new shop 7 days a week from 11am until 10pm under current summer schedule hours.
Her new Hoopla shop, which will be open year round, will always offer the five core flavors that are tabbed as the favorites across the board including Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla, Peanut Butter and Cookies & Cream.The balance of the 21-guns at the shop will rotate from a broad array of dozens of flavors. Interestingly, each of the seven stations on the line have three nozzles each. The two outside flavors can be automatically blended by the machine from the middle nozzle for a unique taste treat. For example:
- Cookie Dough Gelato on the left and Gelato Ice Cream Sandwich on the right, blend in the middle to create Chipwich…
- No Sugar Added Strawberry on the left and Yellow Cake Batter Gelato on the right, blend in the middle to create Strawberry Shortcake…
- Triple Chocolote on the left and Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel on the right, blend in the middle to create Chocolate Caramel Turtle…
- Cheesecake on the left and Key Lime Bar on the right, blend in the middle to Key Lime Cheesecake.
Those are just some of the examples you’ll find. Once you’ve gathered up your frozen treat the toppings will boggle your mind…with more than 48 to choose from and that doesn’t even include the three giant fountains of Ghiradelli sauces with chocolate, caramel and white chocolate…and then there’s the hot fudge topping and others.
Here’s the part that especially moms are going to love. Hoopla has two options to select from. You can choose an 8-oz “Fill It Up Cup” for $3.99 and fill your cup as full as you wish with whatever you wish, including toppings, or you can choose the larger, 16-oz, “Weight It and Pay It Cup” which always allows you to build your own magnificent creation of any size…even if you only want a couple of spoonfuls or you want it overflowing. You pay by the weight of your creation.
Susie has created St. Joe FroYo LLC in partnership with her husband Greg Collins and Joyce Lunsford of Trigo Hospitality. That means Hoopla is locally owned and operated and only affiliated with Hoopla in NY by brand name. Susie operates the business as a sole entity with her partners.
You can place your Hoopla Frozen Yogurt in plain cups or house-made fresh waffle cones and waffle bowls to enjoy at your leisure. There are frozen yogurts of all kinds including gluten-free options, non-dairy and no-sugar-added options, plus sorbets, custards, gelatos and even vegan options to choose from, so there literally is something for everybody including those with personal lifestyle preferences and those with dietary restrictions.
The new shop was built out for Hoopla by McGuire Construction of Benton Harbor, and was completed this week following the launch of construction in late April.
Shown in the photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market.com are (left to right) Noah Collins, Susie Collins and Adam Collins. Noah and Adam are Susie’s sons and she also has a daughter who was not present at the time of the photo this morning.
The team at Hoopla is now ready to welcome you…opening at 11am this morning and ready to go.
In case you’re wondering, Susie’s personal favorite is the combination of Vanilla Custard and Valenica Orange Sorbet which creates a totally realistic Orange Creamsicle. Give it a try today at the new Hoopla in St. Joseph Charter Township.
