For many people, January represents a new year full of promise and, often, hope for a fresh start – or, at least, an improvement in their circumstances. But for David Waskiewicz, it meant the end of his business, Peachwave Frozen Yogurt, which closed Jan. 22.
It opened at University Mall in Fairfax in August 2020, during the pandemic. And despite it being in a quiet courtyard not visible from the parking lot and behind the main businesses, Peachwave eventually developed a loyal following.
It offered more than 150 flavors of frozen yogurt, 16 rotating flavors of gelato, several flavors of Dole Whip, plus smoothies and shakes. Fresh ingredients arrived daily, and the frozen yogurt was made on site. And although sales were initially slow through the pandemic, Waskiewicz said they’d risen dramatically by 2022 and “that prosperity continued” through the end of that year.
But in 2023, things took a nosedive, with several factors leading to the Fairfax store’s demise, Waskiewicz said. They included inflation, new competition, a location with little foot traffic, and an expansion into Tysons Corner that failed.
“In January 2023, we opened a second location on the third floor of Tysons Mall,” said Waskiewicz. “It was just a kiosk with four, frozen-yogurt machines. I was doing $10,000/month in sales, but the rent was $9,000/month. Plus – with business costs and employees’ salaries – every month it was open, we were losing $2,000 to $5,000. We kept it open nine months before we had to pull the plug that October.”
“A lot of the customers there were tourists, and many were from foreign countries,” he explained. “And they were nervous about what the cost of their frozen yogurt would be, since it varied by weight, and they weren’t used to that.”
Meanwhile, although the Fairfax Peachwave was still a hit with its customers, debt from the Tysons location negatively impacted it. “We were always bleeding money,” said Waskiewicz. Then in summer 2024, new competition for the Fairfax store opened up in nearby Springfield and Burke.
“So we ended that year 5-1/2 percent down from 2023 – and that’s thousands of dollars,” said Waskiewicz. “In addition, inflation in the costs of my food bases and all the cups and spoons ate into my profits. For example, a case of 1,000 cups went from $90 to $120 – and I went through a lot of cups.”
Through it all, though, he didn’t raise his prices. “I didn’t want to add to my customers’ burdens,” he said. “Because my base is moms and kids, I wanted to keep it as affordable as could be for them. Desserts are a want-to-have product, not a need. So when people are having trouble with their own budgets, frozen yogurt becomes a rare treat for families. They cut this out before they do coffee.”
Trouble was, when the Tysons location closed, Waskiewicz still had to make the loan payments for his machines and other equipment. And while operating that site, he’d taken out a personal loan, which also had to be repaid. Furthermore, he added, “I had to start using the profits from the Fairfax location to pay the Tysons debts.”
Nonetheless, said Waskiewicz, “I probably would have still been able to tread water and keep up with everything, had it not been for inflation. And I worried that my Fairfax customers wouldn’t come if I raised my prices. So I fell behind on my payments to University Mall’s property-management company, Van Metre.”
A husband and father of three young children, Waskiewicz, 43, said he exhausted his personal savings, opening the Fairfax store and starting the Tysons venture. “My seven ice-cream/frozen yogurt machines cost $60,000 alone,” he said. “I never repaid myself, but I kept paying my employees and vendors.”
However, when the Fairfax location began, he had a primary job selling cars. But in September 2024, said Waskiewicz, “I went full in on this yogurt business and quit my other job. I worked seven days/week, 65 hours/week. And when business was slow in the winter, I paid myself just $200/week.”
Still, with expenses rising and a monthly rent of $4,600, by this January, he owed Van Metre $40,000. “We were in year four of a 10-year lease, and I wanted mall management to extend our loan repayment for 90 days,” explained Waskiewicz. “That would get us to spring and warmer weather, when we’d have more customers and make more sales.”
Instead, on Jan. 15, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office – acting on Van Metre’s behalf – placed an eviction notice on Peachwave’s front door. “It said we had to leave by 7 a.m., Jan. 23, and clear everything out of here,” said Waskiewicz. “And they only gave me eight days’ notice – over a holiday weekend [Martin Luther King Day], a presidential inauguration, snow and bitter cold.”
Besides, if he’d had more notice, removing everything from the business without professional help would have been a Herculean task. Each machine weighs 500 pounds, and the store also contains a large counter, tables, chairs and three commercial refrigerators.
“I have a total of 3 tons of heavy equipment that you can’t put in a pickup truck,” said Waskiewicz. “I called several moving companies, and the only one that even replied to me said it couldn’t do it until the end of February, at the earliest.”
On Jan. 21, the last day Peachwave was open for business, Waskiewicz said Van Metre was “threatening to keep my $180,000 worth of equipment if it’s not removed by the 23rd. I want to stay; but if not, I at least need time to properly vacate. And if I don’t do it on my own by then, the sheriff would forcibly remove me and not allow me back to get anything.”
Since receiving the eviction notice, he said he’d phoned and emailed Van Metre some 20 times, but “They’ve not responded to me, at all. I want to ask them why can’t we still work together, and what’s the rush? Why are they trying to put me out of here on a rocket?
“My daughter, who’s almost 7, often comes to work with me. And when I told her this store might go away for good, she started to cry. If I can save the equipment, we could potentially reopen in a new location. But if not, I wouldn’t have the spirit – or the money – to do it all again from scratch.”
On Jan. 27, in response to some questions from The Connection, Ty Hausch, Van Metre’s vice president of commercial leasing, said, “While an eviction is certainly a difficult decision for any landlord to make, this process has been going on for many months and the tenant has been notified of each step throughout the process.
“Unfortunately, the tenant made no effort at all to communicate with us until the Sheriff’s Department notified the tenant of the eviction based on the order issued by Fairfax County [General] District Court. We are cooperating with the tenant to retrieve their equipment and personal property. It is an unfortunate situation, and we wish the tenant well in their future endeavors.”
Waskiewicz, however, disputed what Hausch said. Waskiewicz said Van Metre took him to court last year, after he fell behind on his rent. He was then placed in a payment plan to pay off what he owed, and he was still in the process of doing that when he was ordered to leave. According to Waskiewicz, Van Metre doesn’t believe that he never got an eviction notice until Jan. 15.
“They served my registered agent in Virginia Beach but never sent the notices to the store,” he explained. “I even have the full $40,000 owed and offered it, but they won’t respond to me about paying it to be allowed to stay.” Still, he had no answer for why his agent wouldn’t have forwarded the previous eviction notices to him.
Meanwhile, Hausch said, “We are willing to allow a reasonable amount of time for equipment and personal property to be removed. [Waskiewicz’s] equipment is financed or leased, and we are already working with his lender and lessee to schedule equipment removal. We are legally required, pursuant to signed agreements, to allow his lender and lessee to remove their equipment first.”
As of Feb. 14, the store remained closed, with all the equipment still inside. “The mall management never had any intention of letting us stay, it seems,” said Waskiewicz. “[But] thank you very much to the wonderful community that did try to help us. We truly appreciate you.”