Catching up with James and the Ice Creamcycle
I’m sure that many of you are not thinking about ice cream right now. But if you think back to the summer months, it was sure great to see James Karagiannis out serving up treats on his custom Ice Creamcycle. Here’s the original post. I wanted to see if James had anything planned for the colder season, and he gave me the lowdown on the summer sales and the winter months:
“Sales were much better than expected… it was a great summer. Of course ice cream isn’t new, but I found that if you take something and tweak it, then people really appreciate it. People like the charm that the Creamcycle brings. They told me that they like the wet-naps that came with the ice cream. The bike part is a lot of work. It took me to the end of June to get in shape to do it all the time. I can’t expect anybody else to ride the bike that much. That’s why next summer I want to have one pushcart on Hertel and have one on Elmwood. I would like the people who run the carts to dress in old fashioned Good Humor uniforms… but I’m having a hard time finding the old uniforms. I’m still searching. I might have my friend who is a costume designer actually come up with something. Right now I’m selling the buffalo hats at the Bills games. Then I’m going to take some accounting and business classes in January. I need to focus on marketing. Everything I have done so far has led me to future ideas.
"I want to keep the momentum going. I found a nutty Bavarian cashew/almond cart vendor that would be good for the colder months. I want to research that cart more, but it’s kind of expensive. We’ll see… maybe in the future I’ll have colder season carts featuring warm things to eat. Right now I’m really busy. I want to hook my bike up for the winter so I can do hot chocolate and coffee. I need to find someone locally who can help me come up with the design concept and then the welding. If anyone out there has any ideas I would love some help. Of course I can’t do the winter bike sales every day… I would do it on days and evenings when there are already activities planned.â€
If BRO viewers have seen concepts that have worked in other cities, James would like to hear about them. In the meantime, look for him at the Bills games, and we’ll let you know when he hits the road selling ice cream on his custom Ice Creamcyle.
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Hoss
Awesome.
There was a soup guy in Colorado.
A rolling espresso machine in Seattle. Though she would basically roll up somewhere and set camp during rush hour and such, or farmers market type gatherings. She did quite well.
In Portland Maine there was a guy with a dirty water dog cart. He would show up where concerts/sporting events let out, or late at night in their "Chip-strip" equivalent. If you don't mind drunks, he always had a line of boozers willing to drop $3/weiner. Though riding home late night with everyone knowing you have cash might be sketchy.
I think the Good Humor outfits would be sweet, but you'd have to offer hazard pay for all the dork comments they will surely get.
Best of luck. I will keep my eye out for your goodies.
Here are some sweet Chitty Chitty Bang Bang looking carts to inspire...
http://www.tea-and-coffee.com/acatalog/Coffee__Carts.html
(sorry, I don't know how to make the link function on these forums)
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AvaRouge
Always neat to see James around town. Literally a real go-getter. Maybe get a sponsor for the more expensive carts (such as Hoss' link- pretty cool!)- possibly a realtor such as MJ Peterson?
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jsk1983
Carts like these are all over the place in some parts of Chicago. Although it seems to be more of a Mexican/Latino thing. Not sure why. Some of the items they offer are Mexican/Latino although I supposse they have the standard American stuff as well. Most seem to be seen along neighborhood streets although I've seen them in the park as well. Seems like a good idea. Not using a truck certainly seems like it would save a lot of money and its not like the trucks go that fast anyway.
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Joshua
This is totally awesome. How did I NOT know that James was pedaling around selling ice cream, I always went down to The Hatch for some ice cream from time to time. James great work, keep on "pedaling" your wares, hope I bump into you.
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BuffaloRox
During the summer weekdays, he should hit Main Street downtown during lunch. In the summer months, noon lunch crowd is outdoors and it is very busy. Nobody sells ice cream downtown, so I think he'd make a killing.
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bboozehound
Last December I spent some time in NYC and I can't begin to tell you how addicted I was to the warm cashew vendors. James, please bring this traveling splendor to our city!
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Frankenberry
I love the idea of the nutty Bavarian cashew/almond cart thing. It would be perfect for the winter months and you can sell roasted chestnuts during the Christmas season. Maybe participate in some of the winter festivals that are spread out around the City of Buffalo and Western NY area. Good Luck. Look forward to seeing your ice cream cart back on Allen this summer.
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Joshua
i could go for a spongbob ice cream right now, yummy
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xmissanthropic
Is that a lost dog poster on the front? That's a great way to get the word out , bring the sign to them and increase the chances of fiddo making it home safe! Along with a tasty treat? That's sweet from every angle you look at it. Ingenious twist!
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icecreamdude
Thanks again queenseyes for the post, i really appreciate it! And thanks to all of my customers for your business and great conversation! It truly was an enjoyable summer.
At one point I did have an odometer hooked up, but i lost it along the way. I had been averaging 20 miles a day, so i figure I put in between 1500 - 2000 miles in total. Crazy! I spent the majority of my time in North Buffalo, EV, and Allentown... but i did venture as far north as North Tonawanda via the riverwalk bike path, Williamsville, Cheektowaga/Depew line to the east, and South Buffalo. Those were mainly to test my limits, and i definitely did catch some good natured slack from my regulars whenever i ventured off.
I was invited to plenty of parties/events to serve ice cream, which was always fun. If you have something going on and want the Ice Creamcycle to show up, let me know... I'm more than happy to do so, no extra charge of course.
As far as selling ad space, I definitely did think of that since the bike has a high profile. I decided against it tho. Rather, i simply ripped missing pet flyers off of posts and taped them on the front of the bike. Its the least i could do. (oh, i even carry Frosty Paws!)
Something that came up far too often... tipping. I definitely appreciate the sentiment, but I do not like accepting tips. Being that it's my own business, i feel its tacky to accept tips. If you must, then buy a stranger some ice cream!
I absolutely love the coffee bike!!! Thanks for that link. I emailed the gentleman, hopefully he responds and we can work something out. And yes, fresh roasted cinnamon glazed nuts are the best! I had Nutty Bavarian once while at Cedar Point, and i can still taste and smell them. Why cant we enjoy them here at home! I'm working on it!
Downtown during lunch hour is tricky. If anyone could help me break through the Buffalo Place bureaucracy please let me know. As it stands, they're not open to the possibility of a bike vendor downtown. thats a shame.
I think i touched on everything. Thanks again for your kind words and business. See you around soon! James
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Joshua
icecreamdude - You're absolutely welcome on Hertle, come on down. Do you have some sort of schedule of days and where you will be or is it just random?
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Joshua
I think this calls for another online petition for the Ice Creamcycle!
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icecreamdude
i'm out everyday, weather permitting. if there's an event i want to be at, i work my way in that direction. otherwise, where i end up is completely random. I live in NB, so Hertel was generally my lunchtime area... or late night if i had leftovers. My expansion next summer will allow for more of a routine.
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