While most students were gone for the summer, Ayelada, a frozen yogurt shop, opened on Spring Street in August, ready to offer returning students a delicious respite from midterms and papers.
Co-owners Jim and Lisa Cervone, who have been married for 38 years, sat down with the Record to discuss the process of opening the shop. First, the name: Ayelada means “cow” in Greek. “The reason we came up with [the name Ayelada] is that we make everything ourselves with local milk,” Jim said. He added that he and his wife’s respective Italian and Hungarian roots created a humorous challenge when naming the store. “The Italian and Hungarian words for cow, not so nice [sounding],” he said. They finally settled on the more pleasing Greek translation for cow.
Ayelada is located inside of Crust, the couple’s first Spring Street venture, which opened in 2023. The Cervones bring decades of experience in business ownership to the new shop. The idea for a frozen yogurt shop came to them in 2013, before Crust had even opened its first location in Pittsfield in 2020. “We happened upon a frozen yogurt place in Northampton, [Mass.], and they made all their yogurt with fresh, real ingredients,” Jim recalled. The Cervones loved the yogurt so much that with the help of the owners, they launched their own fro-yo store.
For the Cervones, their decades of marriage enhance the couple’s business partnership. “I know what he’s good at, and he knows what I’m good at — so I let him do his thing,” Lisa said.
Jim leads the creative vision for Ayelada, along with its finances. “You want me to design the space? I’m your guy,” he said. Lisa, meanwhile, oversees the essential day-to-day details of the business. “All the procedures and all the checklists for cleaning, all the detail, that’s all her,” Jim continued.
In its early days over the summer, Ayelada had a slower start due to the lack of student presence, Jim said. “The first few months were a little slower than we thought, but good, [because] the kids weren’t here,” he said. “Now that we’ve had Crust for almost two years, what I’ve found about Williams [is that] it takes a little time for people to find you.”
Unlike other frozen yogurt vendors, which sometimes rely on pre-made mixtures, Ayelada makes its treats from scratch with locally-sourced ingredients. “We get milk from a farm in Hadley, [Mass.], Maple Line Farm, and yogurt from another farm, Sidehill Farm,” Jim told the Record. “We wanted some connection with the cow,” he added.
The flavoring process begins with the yogurt base. “All our flavors start with the original [flavor],” Jim continued. “The original is just milk, yogurt, powdered sugar.” Lisa noted that when making flavors like raspberry, they use real raspberry purée and avoid syrups and dyes. “The process is very clean,” she said.
Jim added that he is constantly on the hunt for new flavor combinations. “What’s local or seasonal, I’m just always looking for anything new,” he explained. New additions to the Ayelada flavor ranks include raspberry rhubarb and dulce de leche.
The couple draws flavor inspiration from their travels and favorite desserts. The cereal milk flavor, a personal favorite of Jim’s, came from a trip to New York, and the idea for a Thin Mint flavor was sparked by seeing Girl Scouts selling their cookies on Spring Street.
Whether they just enjoyed a Crust pizza or finished a movie next door at Images Cinema, Lisa and Jim encouraged students to visit and try Spring Street’s newest sweet treat.
“Going to get yogurt is fun,” Lisa said.
