Forever Yogurt, a self-serve frozen yogurt shop based in Chicago, is entering the Madison market within the next couple of weeks with a location at 506 State St., next to American Apparel.

The company has more than 80 frozen yogurt flavors, said co-founder and CEO Mandy Calara. “And the flavors are all relatively healthy. They carry live and active cultures and probiotics just like you can get from regular yogurt or Greek yogurt.”

The store will have flavors that taste tart like yogurt and others that taste like ice cream, Calara said.

Some popular flavors are cake batter, red velvet cake, cookies n’ cream, and turtle caramel, he said. A list of flavors can be found online at www.foreveryogurt.com.

Flavors will rotate. The shop will have eight machines with two flavors each, so there will be 16 flavors at any one time, Calara said.

Most of the yogurt is low-fat or nonfat, he said. Each serving has 3g or less of fat, with most customers getting two servings. Some of the favors are gluten-free.

Calara opened the first Forever Yogurt in June 2010 in Chicago’s Wicker Park in an old Cold Stone Creamery location. He opened two more in Chicago early last year. Four are currently under construction.

He began franchising two months ago with the first franchise opening in the middle of April. “We are trying to ramp up pretty quickly because there is some competition with this type of concept,” Calara said.

The Madison one will be the first Forever Yogurt in Wisconsin. It will be a franchise, but with some corporate ownership. Calara said he is looking for more franchisees to open stores in the Madison area.

At Forever Yogurt, the machines are built into a wall, so they look like they are integrated into the store.

Customers choose the frozen yogurt flavors they want to blend together, then head to a topping bar, where there are more than 40 toppings to blend in.

Besides candies, chocolates, gummy bears, cookies and cereals, there are many fresh-cut fruit options. “Everything is fresh, nothing’s frozen,” Calara said.

Customers put their creations on a scale and pay by weight. They are generally charged 45 cents per ounce, he said.

Calara said he is interested in expanding into Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dells and Lake Geneva and is looking for franchisees to open more locations.

Menchies, a frozen yogurt competitor, is coming soon to West Towne Mall, according to its website.