AUBURN — A fateful snack during a Wisconsin vacation in the dead of winter set Corrie Bernatchez’s new business on its way.

Yo Mama! was cool. And it was delicious.

She decided that night to open her own frozen yogurt shop.

“I loved the atmosphere, I loved the self-serve aspect,” said Bernatchez, 22. “I’m laying on my air mattress, ‘I think we need to do this and this.'”

And then she did.

Bernatchez’s Top It Frozen Yogurt opens Friday at 168 Main St. next to her mother’s shop, Maine Gourmet Chocolates, which has jumped the river from Lewiston to Auburn. The two businesses are connected by a walk-through doorway and share cashier space.

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Stephanie Bernatchez said she’s gaining a kitchen, which she didn’t have on Park Street, a glass-front candy case and better parking.

“It was her idea to open (Maine Gourmet Chocolates),” Stephanie Bernatchez said. Her daughter thought she had been making candies at home for long enough. “I love her ambition and her drive — she sees what she wants and she strives for it.”

Corrie Bernatchez had been teaching at a Montessori preschool and going to college for a bachelor’s degree in child psychology before deciding to open her business.

She thought long and hard, she said, about what would make her shop different. Top It will stay open year-round. She also thinks offering self-service and frozen yogurt, which can be a healthier treat, depending upon how it’s dressed, will help her stand out.

“So many people have been walking by and just stopped in (to ask), ‘When are you going to open?'” Bernatchez said.

Several have mentioned they miss the old TCBY on Center Street.

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At Top It, four different machines offer two flavors and one twist each, combinations such as chocolate peanut butter and strawberry cheesecake. Most flavors have no fat. After filling a cup, patrons will move on to a bar of fruit toppings and hot sauces, then a wall of sprinkles, crushed Oreos, sunflower seeds, granola, peanut butter or caramel cups and other sweets.

Bernatchez also plans to offer a special topping of the week from Maine Gourmet Chocolates.

The finished treats will sell for 47 cents an ounce. Depending on toppings, a 6 oz. cup might cost around $3, a 12 oz. around $6, she said.

Flavors will change seasonally and include one non-milk-based sorbet.

The space is filled with lime greens, pinks and oranges with seating inside and on the sidewalk. Gerry Bernatchez helped daughter and wife renovate the former Madison Avenue salon space, taking down and adding walls.

Bernatchez, a 2009 Edward Little graduate, plans to finish her degree this fall at Southern New Hampshire University. She’s hired three employees and may eventually balance frozen yogurt and teaching.

Top It Frozen Yogurt’s summer hours are Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hours will change for fall around October.

kskelton@sunjournal.com


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