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Longtime downtown Palo Alto frozen yogurt shop Fraiche closed its doors last week, but owner Jennifer Maltz isn’t calling it quits. Another Fraiche will open at the new Stanford Hospital in spring 2020.

Maltz said she decided to close the 200 Hamilton Ave. shop "as the economics didn’t makes sense anymore," but did not provide further details.


Fraiche went dark on Dec. 10, 2019, but will reopen next year in a new location. Photo by Elena Kadvany.

The original owners, Patama Roj and Jessica Gilmartin, opened Fraiche opened in 2007 on Emerson Street. The shop later moved to the larger space on Hamilton Avenue, where you could see the organic yogurt being pasteurized on site through a small window. Maltz has run the business since 2017, according to her LinkedIn page.

Fraiche’s closure marks the end of a frozen yogurt era in downtown Palo Alto, which over the years was home to numerous fro-yo shops but is now dominated by ice cream.

The Stanford Hospital Fraiche has been over a year in the making, Maltz said. It will be similar to the Fraiche at the San Francisco International Airport, which serves frozen yogurt as well as smoothies, juices, salads, soups and other health food.

The new Fraiche will be located on a public promenade between the new and old hospitals. La Baguette, the nearby French patisserie at the Stanford Shopping Center, will also operate an eatery on the promenade, according to Stanford Health Care. Cafe Parisien will serve baguette sandwiches, soups, salads and pastries.

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