As Fusion Prepares to Move Up, Froyoworld Set to Move In

Downtown Middletown has been opening its welcoming arms to new businesses for a while now. With a facelift to Main Street several years ago and a renewed sense of community pride, especially in the North End, the city is now a destination spot.

No one is more aware of that than owner Steve Pikos, who is realizing his dream of expanding his bakery business because of its success.

Pikos will be moving into a new 2,500-square-foot home in the Riverview Plaza, which is three times larger than its current space at 386 Main St., sometime this August.

“After five years here, in this location, we are excited about the move and the opportunity to offer our customers more products,” says Pikos.

“We initially chose this spot in the Main Street Market because we felt it was up and coming and it has proved us right,” explains Pikos, who says he is moving to accommodate the bakery's need for more space and to keep up with demand.

“Currently we put out anywhere from 600 to 800 cupcakes a week,” says Pikos, who also prepares several other sugary confections — his signature carrot cake, cherry topped cheesecakes and a vast variety of cookies, not to mention the decadent cakes — from scratch.

As one business moves on, another moves in; the popular franchise Froyoworld will be filling Fusion’s space sometime in August with a vast variety of frozen yogurt treats sure to entice and satisfying customers of all ages.

With its patented recipe for success, Froyoworld, a self-serve yogurt lounge conceived in San Francisco, CA, will be up and running just in time to welcome a new class of college freshmen to Wesleyan’s campus.

Offering a “healthy alternative to ice cream,” Froyoworld’s signature “tart” yogurt contains live active cultures and tasty flavors such Acai Blueberry Tart and Honey Lavender. The new store also offers 45 different toppings, including fruit, chocolates, nuts and others. It also offers low-fat yogurt varieties such as red velvet cupcake and caramel brulee.

The non-fat varieties include white chocolate macadamia and green tea with maca root. Non-dairy flavors of sorbets include blood orange and key lime pie.

“Fusion Bakery expanding and Froyoworld coming to town is going to be great for everyone,” says Downtown Business District Executive Director Quentin Phipps. “Fusion has used its space in the Main Street Market as an incubator to grow their business and it has worked. It is great to see a business outgrow a space and move on to a larger place in town.

"It is also great to see Froyoworld coming to town. It is a very popular franchise, especially around college campuses, so I think it will do great in this location.”

Phillips adds, “It’s obvious that the community of Middletown has embraced the renaissance of the downtown area, which has had a great impact on politics, education, transportation and the job sector. It just proves that Middletown is a great place to work, live and play.”