Ice cream businesses seek to avoid winter chills

Ice cream businesses are usually swarming with customers when the weather is warm. But when the temperature drops, a collective cold chill can be felt at ice cream shops throughout the county. For those that brave the changing seasons and stay open year round, preparation is key to financial survival.

Based on figures compiled by the International Ice Cream Association, the total U.S. sales of ice cream and frozen desserts reached $21.4 billion in 2004.

Of that total, $13.3 billion was spent at ice cream shops. Not surprisingly, most of that is spent during the warm weather months. Winter - even in Atlanta's mild climate - is a difficult season for ice cream businesses.

"Business is very slow during the winter," says Jill Lane, store manager of Bruster's Real Ice Cream in Lawrenceville, one of 15 Gwinnett area stores.

Having been in business for eight years, the ice cream shop has its winter survival strategy down to a science. By cutting down on payroll and reducing its operating hours, Brusters can stay afloat when summer is officially over. The slowdown doesn't begin when the air becomes crisp. It's a school bell that signals the end of summer sales for this family owned business.

"This is a kid friendly business," Lane says. "Our business drops off the day school starts."

There are plenty of shops throughout Gwinnett that stay open year round, debunking the myth that ice cream is a seasonal businesses. Marble Slab Creamery in Snellville reduces its hours

in the fall and cuts them further in winter, according to store manager Sandy Patel. But it doesn't close.

"We do stay open year round because there are true ice cream lovers that come out year long," Patel says. "There are people who like to come out in the winter because they can savor the ice cream and not worry about it melting. There are customers we see only when it's cold."

Though business is slow in the winter, Marble Slab makes up for it with swift summer sales. The store has been at the Snellville location for four years, and sets money aside during the summer for winter reserves - but it has never dipped into those funds.

"We've never had to go into what we put aside," Patel says. "We always at least break even for the winter months. We have shorter hours so there's not that many employees working in the winter. We have less expenses, and usually break even. But we do put aside in the winter just in case."

Although most franchise ice cream shops stay open during the cold weather months, according to Lynda Utterback, executive director for the National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA), most mom-and-pop ice cream shops do hibernate during the winter.

"People just think of ice cream as a summer food," Utterback says. "It's not something that you have to eat to nourish your body. It's more of a summer tradition. It conjures up all kinds of childhood memories."

The Scoop on Ice Cream
Total U.S. production of ice cream and related frozen desserts in 2004 amounted to about 1.6 billion gallons, translating to about 21.5 quarts per person.

• The United States leads the world in annual production of ice cream and related frozen desserts at about 1.6 billion gallons in 2004.
• In 2004, about 8 percent of the milk produced in the U.S. was used to make frozen dairy products.
• U.S. production of low fat ice cream was up 12.1 percent as of June 2006 compared to the previous 12 months.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)