It looks like the Yogurt Stop is for sale. The only lesbian-owned business in the “Rainbow District” is believed to be “in escrow.” There’s no word yet on Marix and Basix, the other highest-profile lesbian owned business in West Hollywood.
Yogurt Stop, the original “Pump It Yourself” yogurt shop located at 8803 Santa Monica Blvd., is apparently listed for sale. Owners Shosshana and Marta Knittel declined to confirm. A copy of the apparent listing can be seen here.
The Yogurt Stop was founded in 2008 by Marta Knittel and Misti Cooper. The couple worked together until 2012 when Cooper sold her interest. Shosshana joined the Yogurt Stop as Marta’s business and life partner and worked at the shop greeting customers and overseeing the operations most every day.
The listing comes as “Kale Me Crazy” announced they will soon be opening on the corner of Hancock and Santa Monica Blvd. in the space next door to Yogurt Stop.
A copy of the sales listing shows an asking price of $875,000 and total sales of $900,000 per year.
That breaks down to an average sales of $75,000 per month or roughly $2,500 per day.
The listing describes the property as “situated in a trendy, prime West Hollywood location, located on a major boulevard in unique and highly desirable location with great visibility.” It goes on to say “the place is celebrity packed with famous faces all the time.”
Yogurt Stop is the only lesbian-owned business in the Boystown area. Basix & Marix owned by Mary Sweeney and Vickie Shemaria are the other highest profile lesbian-owned retail businesses in West Hollywood, located on the north side of Kings Road and Santa Monica Blvd.
If Basix and Marix were to be up for sale it is believed the City of West Hollywood would be an eager buyer.
The city purchased the Coast Playhouse theater for $2.5 million from its owners Mary Sweeney and Vickie Shemaria, who also own the Basix and Marix property. And the city also purchased the space occupied by Crossroads Trading, Peter’s Cleaners and Joey’s Cafe.
A city staff report discussed the development of an “arts district” in those purchase agreements.
If the property occupied by Basix and Marix came up for sale, the City of West Hollywood would likely jump at the opportunity to own the entire block on the north side of Santa Monica Blvd from Kings to Sweetzer.
I would love to know if there is a plan to ever open Basix and Marix again.
No.
I started going to yogurt stop when it opened and enjoyed it very much. The prices were always higher but they had a great location and a good patio area. Over time, however it seemed to drift from being a yogurt shop to almost everything else. I’ve never seen so many different varieties of chips. The last straw though was excessive charge for the toppings. I completely understand putting them in containers but they could have used smaller containers, more in line with the amount people would put on it their yogurt. Instead they had big cups at $2.50 with… Read more »
It’s time we hear from The Marix owners who’ve been radio silent throughout COVID even now as all of our favorite restaurants and newcomers are bringing love back to our great city. Please Marix, tell us you’re returning and when!!! Anything less from this long standing beacon of festivity would be incredibly sad.
You’re absolutely right. It’s time to be honest with what’s going on there. Our community relies on these places and they’ve ghosted us all. Never forget what they did to our community during this time.
I’m very angry, too! No feedback. No website. Been a regular since late 80’s, and a gift card purchaser at X-mas for many years currently holding $600 worth of cards!!!!!!!! If the City does purchase it, they should make these 2 owners honor all obligations including mine prior to closing the deal. Face it; not looking ++ for this place to reopen at this point. I plan to file a PPP investigation claim that they took government $$, and have no plans of reopening or appearing to do anything related to Marix with the $$; other than drive expensive cards… Read more »
The owners of Marix are the cheapest lesbians ever. . at the very beginning .. the city of WeHo was trying to close them down for whatever reasons ..the owners … came into the bar one night and asked a couple of regulars if they would stand up for Marix at a WeHo councit meeting.. we did .. around 10 of us … Marix was saved … because of emotional testimony on behalf of Marix … you would think after that .. they would have offered us a free drink or a free dinner after what we had done for… Read more »
We can’t lose Marix. We. Just. Can’t! Stop the madness.
I applied to Yogurt stop when I first moved to Weho and one of the owners was really nice and wanted to hire me. The other was really rude and says I wouldn’t be hired because I she wanted someone to stay there “for a very long time” I didn’t see myself working there for years (I was in college) and she kept grilling me asking why I left my previous job to move to Weho. I moved because I wanted to live in a LGBT city. Made no sense to me and kinda glad I didn’t get hired.
It’s a shame – was a great place for awhile until it became potato chip central then Covid items overrunning the place – not to mention the $2.50 for EACH side of topping they were charging.
It continued to be a great place and I applaud the businesses, like The Yogurt Stop, that adapted to COVID and stayed open, and kept employing its staff. I applaud Marta and Shoshana and wish them well in their next venture!
Yeah, they lost focus and became a 7-11 prices got crazy. They succeeded in the beginning because they were focused and prices were reasonable.
Marta and Shosshana have built Yogurt Stop into an incredibly valuable asset when other yogurt shops faded into the dustbin of history. It is tough to lose beloved business owners who have so personalized their shop that it enhances West Hollywood’s small town feel. But whatever happens I wish them the best and I hope they embark on another venture in West Hollywood. Shosshan and Marta have been exemplary employers, business leaders and honored members of our community.
It’s a good thing that none of the nearby merchants harassed Marta and Shoshana during their many years taking care of residents and visitors.
And what would the City of West Hollywood do with the property if they bought it? Why would they want it?
The City Council has essentially decided, without a lot of formal public input, to create a theater district across from City Hall. The Coast Theater was long a fixture in West Hollywood but it is a very tough business. This sort of reminds of the fiasco of the “West Hollywood Orchestra”, except that adventure only cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars rather than millions. But the real estate is always valuable and I also suspect that there are plans for a new City Hall or City Hall annex. If the project had a housing element it might really be… Read more »
You can’t have a “theater district” when your theater only holds 25 people.
The city council’s motto should be, “Let them eat cake.” They have no business buying real estate before putting a serious dent in the homeless mess.
Thanks for this update. Will “Kale Me Crazy” be on the corner of Hancock or more probably Palm in the former optometrist site?
yes
How many vegan/salad places can we have within a few blocks. I guess the same number of hamburger joints. 🙄