I was planning on writing a quick ‘Into to spring’ post since I spotted James Karagiannis and his Ice Creamcycle cruising around the West Side the other day. But we’re looking at some storm clouds and light flurries, so I figured that I would update BRO readers about this young entrepreneur’s latest dreams and directions. I caught up with James moments ago and asked him about a few of his sweet plans.
“The first day I went out on the Ice Creamcycle I could still see my
breath – the other two days were much nicer and I sold out of everything. I’ve been
going around Hertel/Colvin a bit, but the best neighborhood is between
Grant and Niagara – that’s the most lucrative area for me. The few days that
I’ve gone out I’ve sold out. There are so many people over there –
that’s the new hot spot. The business has become so successful that in order to grow I really need to find some central locations to
store my bike around the Richmond/Ashland area (if anyone can help). It would also be nice to have a fridge somewhere in the area so that I could stock up without having to ride home. It’s all part of a bigger plan – I
think I’m going to start making my own ice cream. That way I
can sell to some local stores throughout the year – eventually I would like
to open up an ice cream salon in the city… maybe something that could
be franchise-able. At this point, I’m working with the Small Business
Development Center at Buffalo State College to develop the plan.
“This summer I am planning on organizing an ice cream festival – it’s going to be during the Buffalo Homecoming event. I want to put together an ice cream and dessert festival where all of the ice cream and sweets businesses can join in. It’s tentative at this time – I’ve never put an event together before. I’ve been talking to some local businesses that appear to be interested though. I ultimately envision a big festival in years to come.”
Oh, and nice CityLove t-shirt James!
