NWI Business Ins and Outs: Planet Fitness coming to Highland, new popcorn places pop up, Vampire Penguin shaved snow coming to Crown Point -…

Planet Fitness, the national gym chain known for its low prices, "judgment-free zones" and annual New Year's Eve promotions at Times Square in New York City, is coming to Highland.

The fast-growing fitness chain that offers free pizza and free bagels once a month already has gyms in Hammond, Schererville, Merrillville, Hobart, Crown Point and Michigan City.

Planet Fitness is renovating the space at 3315 45th St. in Highland, Building Commissioner Ken Mika said.

The gym chain is taking over space in the strip mall on 45th Street that has been home over the years to businesses like Zorba's Restaurant, Fat's Billiards, Highland Produce Depot, Thrift Store, Chela's Cocina, Women's Core Fitness Center, Dollar General, ABC Cellular and Highland Card and Comic Shop.

As has been noted previously in this column, gourmet popcorn places have been popping up across Northwest Indiana the way froyo places and cupcake joints have in the past.

LeBarron and Nina Burton recently opened Popcorn World at 2560 Garfield St. inside the County Market Plaza in Gary, between the supermarket and the Shark's Fish and Chicken. The chain is known for hand-coated popcorn flavors like banana pudding, birthday cake, blackberry cream cheese cobbler, coconut cream pie, dark chocolate pomegranate, spiked egg nog, baked potato, dill pickle and peanut butter jelly.

Popcorn World has the slogan "doing the world a flavor," selling tins of popcorn of up to two gallons. It brags that it's "the world's largest gourmet popcorn shop" with 250 different flavors.

In other Region popcorn news, Epic Popcorn in the Jewel-Osco plaza on U.S. 30 in Dyer is expanding to Crown Point.

The popcorn chain will have a grand opening from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 102 S. Main St. in Crown Point.

There will beface painting, balloon twisting, crafts, games, raffles, prizes, free popcorn tastings and special discounts throughout the day.

The chain said it's a"gourmet-inspired brand with a variety of chef-inspired ingredients to create unique popcorn flavors." Flavors include pumpkin spice, fab and fruity, chili lime, birthday cake, buttery fingers, cheddar bacon, chocolate wafer, coffee liquor, jalapeno bacon, jalapeno cheddar, grape, parmesan garlic, pina colada, rainbow mix, sour kiss, watermelon and whoa momma.

California-based Vampire Penguin is looking to offer its shaved snow and shaved ice in the Region, which a local franchisee touts as a "light, fluffy, creamy, gluten-free, dairy-free healthier alternative to ice cream."

Crown Point High School graduateThao Ho, who's known by the nickname "Chevy" since her name sounds like the Chevy Tahoe, plans to bring the franchise to Crown Point as soon as next spring. She lived in California, returned to Indiana, and decided to go into business for herself after working for Amtrak for 11 years. She is still in her 30s and thought the time was right to start a venture of her own.

"It has one-fourth fewer calories than frozen ice cream but will still indulge your sweet tooth," she said. "You can get great taste without feeling guilty."

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The restaurant offers shaved snow in flavors like strawberry, mango, green tea, honeydew, thai tea, chocolate and vanillia. It can be topped with various syrups, fruit like strawberries, watermelon, lychee, jackfruit and pineapple, and with toppings like Oreos, marshmallows, coconut jelly, strawberry boba, mango boba and rainbow sprinkles.

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NWI Business Ins and Outs: Planet Fitness coming to Highland, new popcorn places pop up, Vampire Penguin shaved snow coming to Crown Point -...