It really depends on how well the company executes. As long as they can build a brand around it and follow Jamba Juice's lead. I thought Jamba Juice was originally a fad, but they have done a fantastic job building it into a high visible brand. So far they are doing the right things to make it a brand.
I heard somewhere Pinkberry started in South Korea and very popluar in Asia. There are already several asian companies that have very similar business model as Pinkberry. As long as they can market it to more than just the Asian crowd, they can be more than just a fad.
But you can also make the arguements that it could follow the boba drink trend. In that market there was no market leader that built a brand around it. It caters too much to an Asian market and did a poor job introducing it to others. You can make serveral arguements why. Some people just don't like boba because of taste and texture, Poor business execution, lack of experience in building national brands, lack of marketing and advertising skills, lack of franchising experience, etc. I think all of the arguements played a factor into not making it more mainstream and Jamba Juice level.
Shiftybob, it says there's a pinkberry in Temecula. Theres also Yogurt World in Kearny Mesa near the Infinit dealer. I'm sure you will see many more pop up everywhere.
