Latest southern Colorado news, weather and sports from FOX21 News

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- A local craze taking over Colorado Springs is bringing satisfying sweets and more jobs to the area.

New frozen yogurt shops like iTopIt and YoYogurt have been popping up all over Colorado Springs.

There are now eight shops in the city, offering people numerous options and opening up doors for employment.

"When you come in we have tons of sample cups," Amanda Ralston, co-owner of YoYogurt, said. "People can go through and try as many flavors as you want until they pick the one or two or three that they like and then they just pick their size cup, go through the line and fill it as full as they want, mix and match, however they want."

The shops also feature topping bars filled with fresh fruit, chocolate and even cheese puffs.

Price is then determined by the weight.

"They're popular because people now-a-days are excited about choice, and I think self-serve frozen yogurt gives people a tremendous amount of choice," David Begin, owner of iTopIt, said. "We've got 16 different flavors, 24 combinations. You basically take your cup and you can put as much or as little of whatever you want in it, and I think that's what people are excited about, is the infinite variety of flavors and toppings and choices that they can make."

Giving customers a choice seems to be working, as business is booming.

"The day we opened, we hit numbers. We're already seeing something we didn't expect to see," Liz Johnson, co-owner of YoYogurt, said.

Both companies have recently opened second locations, and YoYogurt has two more stores in the works.

"It's been good. We've been really pleased and happy with how our first store has done, and we've been excited about how our second store is turning out as well," Begin said.

With more shops comes the need for more employees. Currently both businesses employ around 35 to 40 people each, mostly teens.

"It's exciting to be able to offer these types of jobs. It's really exciting to be able to offer it to kids who are just getting started, and they seem to be having the most difficulty finding jobs in our marketplace right now," Begin said.

Begin added a majority of his employees are part-time.

"It seems to be a good fit for them and it's a great fit for us, and so it's kind of exciting to know that many of these kids, this will be their first job that they have, and if they get the discipline and the skills necessary, they take that with them throughout the rest of their life," he said.

Begin said he is always looking for more employees, and Johnson said they are currently hiring for their new locations.

"We are still looking to hire for the west side and Mesa Ridge, probably between the two stores, probably another 15 people," Johnson said.

Both companies are locally owned. Ralston and Johnson own YoYogurt with their brother Nic Grzecka.

"As a family we've been in the Springs for 31 years, and then as a business we've been open since March of 2011," Johnson said.

They said it's important to be involved with their community and want to be the neighborhood yogurt shop.

"We're trying to stay community based. Our entire family is working in the shops now, running the shops, reaching out to the community, making community ties with schools," Grzecka said.

As more shops pop up, all agreed it will take a continued effort to keep customers coming back.

"We try to give them a tremendous amount of variety in toppings. We really want to make it a great place to come, and when people come they'll have a remarkable experience and wanna come and tell their friends about it," Begin said.

Despite the frozen yogurt craze being good news for most, not everyone is as excited about it. An employee at Cold Stone Creamery said sales have dropped since the shops have started popping up.