Page Six Magazine might have crowned Pinkberry "the leader" in the fro-yo marketing, but Tasti D-Lite isn't exactly sitting on its hands. The New York City addiction has grand plans to expand — and far beyond the boroughs. It wants to bring its reduced calorie goodness to the four points of the globe (South Korea, Israel, Mexico), and Tennessee (16 stores) and Texas (40). It's got the franchise king behind Mail Boxes Etc. behind it, and the hope that, without any increased advertising effort, the whole multi-million dollar plan will go off without a hitch.

Beyond turning its operations into a franchise structure — many stores currently own their shops, but simply license the name — Tasti's new owner James Amos has to convince current stores to upgrade their run-down appearance. A fresher, more uniform look for the stores will be better for the brand, he says, and the brand is basically the only thing he plans to use to attract customers in his new locations.

Neither Mr. Amos nor other franchisees are planning the kind of national advertising often used by companies expanding across the country. Instead, franchisees in new markets are banking on customers already having some familiarity with Tasti D-Lite from visits to New York. [...]

Mr. Amos hopes the new Manhattan stores, particularly the Empire State Building outlet, will snag more attention from Big Apple tourists.

Indeed, perhaps that 12oz cup of chocolate marshmallow or pineapple cheesecake they enjoyed in the middle of Times Square during their big city visit a half dozen years ago will be all a few hundred thousand Texans need to start substituting their Burger King lunches with some soft serve.

[WSJ]