Nine Year Old Italian Ice Owner Interview- Jack Frost Italian Ices

9 Year old Businessman Jack of Jack Frost Italian Ices stopped by the Little Jimmy’s headquarters in Elizabeth, NJ with his dad and uncle today.

Bringing smiles back to Athens, one scoop at a time.

That’s the business plan of eight-year-old Jack Henry Barrett, who opened up an Italian ice cart in Teaoga Square in Athens Borough last week with the help of his father, Ed Barrett Jr.

Jack Frost Ice, which features Little Jimmy’s Italian ice products, came about after the Barretts – including Jack’s mother Deanna, who owns the nearby Urban Connection salon – wanted to find another way to bring people back to the recovering business district hit hard by flooding in September. It seems to be working, Ed Barrett said.

“So far, it’s been a great response,” he said, adding that the business already has “a lot of repeat customers in such a short time” since the stand opened for business last Wednesday.

Jack “has been a businessman since he could count change,” Barrett said. With the help of his father, family friend Mary Johnston and other adults, Jack scoops the ice, stocks supplies and keeps the stand clean.

The Barretts decided to purchase a Little Jimmy’s pushcart cart because of its low overhead and to fill a need left open this summer with the fate of nearby D and R Ice Cream in question after the flood, Barrett said. The Athens borough council granted the Barretts permission to serve the frozen treats in the square last week.

https://italianice.net/

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/athens-boy-opens-italian-ice-stand-1.1332227

Share

In the News Again – Reno, Nevada

In the news Again- around the 1:17 mark- Little Jimmy’s Push Cart keeps the Italian Ice cold all day- even in the heat of Reno Nevada

reno nevada Italian Ice  in the news again

reno nevada Italian Ice in the news again

All week we’ve been showing people ways to keep themselves and their homes cool.

A good way to cool off is a nice hop in the Truckee River, something a lot of people did all day Friday.

“It’s hot out today,” says Takiya Smith, visiting from Hawaii. “Like, ‘Oh my God’ hot. And I didn’t know that it got this warm here. And so the water, it feels great.”

Record-breaking temperatures are tough to handle if you’re stuck without air conditioning. Parents, kids and the family pets all hopped into the water.

The Truckee River may be chilly, but folks say it feels pretty refreshing with the sun beating down.

“It’s icy cold, but when you get out, you feel much better and it’s very relaxing, and it’s nice to be out here with all the kids and it’s a beautiful place,” says Chandra Peckham.

With temperatures set to hit triple digits this weekend, you can expect Wingfield Park to be packed on Saturday and Sunday.

Share

Never Did See One Kite in the Air

Kite Festival Italian Ices

Kite Festival Italian Ices

Italian Ice Testimonial Received Sun, Jun 2, 2013 at 10:54 AM

Just wanted to share a look into our first $1,500 day. It was a Kite
Festival held here in Reno annually.
Their 4th, our 1st.

Turnout last year was about 3,500 but don’t have the numbers for this
year yet. It was about 80 degrees that day and I brought 350 bottles of
water as well, but due to line like shown in the picture, I didn’t even have
time to get them out of the van. Next to us was CocaCola with 240 btls
of water and they sold out by 2 pm.

The line shown in the pic was indicative of my non stop serving from 10:15
(for a 11 am start) until 3:50 when I finally stood up straight. Never did see
one kite in the air.

Last year we booked 11 events and this year we have 64 lined up through
October 15th.

Love Little Jimmy’s Italian Ices.

James Hinkle

Share

Summer Job: Italian Ice by The Pool

Summer Job Suggestion: Recently one of our customers from Indiana was interviewed by the Chronicle Tribune in Indiana. They also shot this great video of Bob poolside serving his customers while being interviewed by a reporter there. Great idea for summer jobs for teachers and students this summer.

pool, italian ice, summer job

summer job serving Italian ice at the pool

Get started by visiting us here

What were you thinking of doing this summer? Why not a Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice pushcart to set up at pools and high traffic areas. Tremendous summer job idea- great jobs tor teachers in the summer and students seeking work or for a summer job for teachers over the summer.

Share

Italian Ice Sightings and Quotes

1)  Saw one of your carts Friday at food truck park in the ATL on Howell Mill

little jimmys italian ice

italian ice at mall

2) I am doing a Fund Raising event for my credit union-walk for hunger- may 4th!  My 1st!

Wish me luck!!!
Thanks again for all your help!!!!

from Maine

3)  Thank You Dennis,  I have just booked 3 major events here in Atlanta.

and I also have booked the 28th Annual…Sweet Auburn Spring Festival.
So Yes, I am on a roll. My goal is to have an event Every Weekend. I currently have a spot everyday at the Atlanta Food Truck Park! There is a Face Book Page & a website for the Atlanta Food Truck Park that you can look at.
Now with 3 carts, 2 go to major events & the 1 goes to the Food Truck Park every day.
Thank You for the suggestions. Please keep them coming!

4)  Hey Dennis,
I definitely think this is something I can do, especially since the weather is warming up making it easier for more people to be outside/summer events forming up. I am a Dance Teacher at an elementary school and was looking for a summer entreprenuering job to make some good money. I think I might have found it!!
Mya

 

Share

How Much Does an Italian Ice Pushcart Cost?

How Much Does an Italian Ice Cart Cost?

italian ice pushcarts

Italian ice push cart

One of the first questions potential Ice cart owners want to know when they call our company is : How much does an Italian Ice cart cost? Although this is a very easy question to answer, there are other things that you should be aware of before you make your purchase of an Italian Ice cart and Italian ices.
When you buy from Little Jimmy’s Italian ices you are purchasing your pushcart and Italian ices directly from the Manufacturer in Iselin, NJ. By doing so you are avoiding the high costs of purchasing a franchise or a business opportunity since we are the manufacturer of the Italian ices and Pushcarts and never ask for any royalties, establish any territories, or tell you what to do as the end user of your Italian ices and pushcarts. If you wanted to purchase the Italian Ice cart and ices and set it up as a business for events, that is your decision. If you wanted to purchase the Italian ice cart and Italian ices for your school or as a fundraiser, that is your decision also. If you wanted to purchase just the Italian ice, that is your decision also.
Our Italian Ice carts and Italian ice packages start at $4495 and go up from there depending on the number of pushcarts you purchase and/or the amount of Italian ice you purchase- everything is negotiable on all of our Italian ice packages- if you want something more or less than what we are offering in the packages, we will gladly assist you in finding a package that is best suited for your needs and delivery concerns.

Now that you hopefully understand the differences between purchasing your Italian ice pushcart from us directly from us here at Little Jimmy’s Italian Ices vs that of a costly franchise, here are some of the items you will receive in our packages.

Stainless Steel Pushcart
Stainless Steel Lid
Large Umbrella
Cup dispenser
Italian ice scoops
Italian ice scoop stainless steel holders
Case of 5 ounce pleated cups
Major league team baseball helmets that you can serve the Italian ices in
Money aprons
Collared shirts
Visors
6 inch x 6 inch Decals of every flavor we carry
A- Frame signs

As you can see, there are many options available, and when someone receives a quote from our company, we thoroughly examine each option as to educate the Italian ice cart owner on the option’s benefits as to identify its overall importance to the success of their purchase.

When an inquiry is made as to how much our Italian Ice and pushcarts cost, the relationship between our pushcarts and our Italian ices is also a key factor. What I mean by this is that as a company, we have four different packages we offer our customers. Unlike most Italian Ice companies, we will do as much or as little as our customers would have us do. This flexibility leads to less stress and more savings for the customer.

Here are more questions that we receive from potential Italian ice customers and our answers:

Question: Thanks for the info. Very Interested in this opportunity. I live in a very hot, humid area, How do you maintain temperature in cart if opening and closing all the time serving hundreds of customers? How do you get temp to 10 to 12 degrees, hold that, in conditions of 95 to 100 degrees 70+% humidity?
Answer: No problems with this- we have similar situations to yours in the Bahamas, California, Florida and Arizona. Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice is made specifically for our Italian Ice carts using superior insulation. Little Jimmy’s Italian Ices stays frozen all day in our Italian ice carts-
Heat rises and cold drops (bet you didn’t know you were going to get a science lesson!)- Heat rises enabling you to scoop Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice out of our specially designed and insulated pushcarts. Cold drops keeping the carts bottom cold at all times to keep product from melting.
To keep the cold going all day when a can of Italian Ice starts to become small or low- you cut down the cardboard can with a knife, and then add another can of Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice below. This process actually adds more refrigerant back to the cart and takes the place of the air space. As long as the cart is filled with Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice on hot days, it will not liquefy.

Question: At the end of day, do you refreeze? Can you refreeze?
Answer: Yes- as long as the Italian ice has not liquefied. There is nothing perishable in Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice, so you can refreeze.

Question: How much do people charge for a 5 oz serving?
Answer: Generally the same price that a hot dog or single scoop of ice cream is going for in your area.

Question: How many 5 gallon containers does a cart hold?
Answer: Our Italian Ice pushcarts hold four- 5 gallon cans of Little Jimmy’s Italian Ices. If you were to sell all four cans at the same price that a hot dog sells for (say for example $2) that would be approximately $900 gross for the $120 cost of the four cans of the Italian Ices. If you were at an event and the hot dog price was more (say for example $3) that would be approximately $1300 gross for the $120 cost of the four cans of the Italian Ices.

Question: How much does a cart weigh?
Answer: 150 lbs empty, 310 lbs. loaded with four 5 gallon cans of Little Jimmy’s Italian Ices.

Question: What are the dimensions of the cart?
Answer: 25 x 25x 25 on 8 inch wheels- Umbrella holder comes up 53 inches from the ground. The umbrella holder can be removed- You then would need a 37 clearance for the pushcart to go inside your vehicle.

Question: How much is a cart by itself?
Answer: After you have ordered one of the Cart Plans (A, B, C) they are $2620 plus shipping.

Question: How many cups, scoops, helmets, tee shirts, caps and signage comes with Plan A.?
Answer: 5000 5 ounce cups, 2 scoops, 120 Major League Baseball Teams that you scoop the Italian Ice into, Tee shirt and caps- 2 of each (please specify size).
Signage- All the stickers of the flavors you have ordered.
A removable Free Sample umbrella sign atop your Italian Ice pushcart will attract customers to your cart and create all sorts of activity to your Italian Ice cart.
As soon as someone passes the sign and looks at you, you would say Hi, what flavor would you like today, Cherry or Lemon? You then get two positive answers- Yes and Yes. As soon as the customer tastes the product on the small sample spoon, (that you will have to provide-you can buy these sample spoons at Wal-Mart, Costco, etc.) the customer is hooked and buys the Italian Ice.
Under no circumstances do you ask Hi, would you like a free sample? This question leads to one positive and one negative answer- Yes and No.

Question: If I must unload product, is forklift necessary, as operating out of garage?
Answer: It is necessary- You will need to specify a delivery location that has a forklift (local hardware store or building supply company.) However a better option is a cold storage warehouse. You do not have to be there when the delivery arrives, and it is a more convenient situation.
Instead of storing all 60 cans at your premises and needing 3- 25 cu ft chest freezers, you could utilize the cold storage facility to store the majority of your Italian Ice and then keep just one 25 cubic foot chest freezer on your premises that you can operate out of. Either way the choice is yours.

Share

Business Plans For this Spring

 

Business plan now for 2013 with Italian ice

Business Plan now for Spring 2013 with a Little Jimmy’s Italian ice pushcart.

Business Plan for next Spring with Little Jimmy’s Italian Ices and Pushcarts.  Everyone is looking for something new to help supplement their income with and get started with around the beginning of every year in terms of a new business.  Plan now to get yourself going next season with Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice.  We have begun to build more pushcarts and Italian Ices for the next Italian Ice season.

Our Italian Ices are available in 20 different flavors- you can find a list of all of our Italian Ice flavors here.

The best way that we can convey to you about our Italian ice and Pushcarts are real examples of our customers that have been operating their own business – here are some videos and stories from our site  you can view

Now is the time to give us a call at 800 763 4348 and discuss your business plans with us for the upcoming year.  When you call us, we can go everything that’s needed to get yourself started with your own Little Jimmy’s Italian ice Pushcart.  By calling us now we can get you an Events list of everything that is going on in your State so you can call the organizers of these events and get your Italian ice into these events.  We have lists of events available for each and every state and update them frequently.

Visit Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice on the web and check out all we have to offer and sign up on our site by E-Registering and we will send you all the prices of our Italian Ices and Pushcarts.  Include Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice for you business plans for next year by giving us a call at 800 763 4348.

 

Share

Crazy for Grape Italian Ice

Today we had two Grape Italian Ice Enthusiasts drive nearly 4 hours round trip (approx 230 miles) for 2 cans of Grape Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice – “the purple kind.”  Her husband had the Grape Italian ice last year at Funtown Pier in Seaside Park, NJ and went crazy for it and couldn’t stop talking about it. So as a surprise for his upcoming birthday, Mandy and Margie drove from upstate New York to Elizabeth, New Jersey to grab some of the purple stuff. Let us know if you would like to visit us anytime during the week- we’ll be here!

Share

NBC News: 8 Year Old Businessman

Athens, Pa. – An eight-year-old boy is bringing business back to Athens after the flood, by running his own Italian ice stand (see story below)

Athens, Pa. –  An eight-year-old boy is bringing business back to Athens after the flood—by running his own Italian ice stand.The September flooding knocked out dozens of businesses in Athens. One of them was an ice cream shop in Teaoga Square Park. So Jack Henry Barrett, 8, brought an Italian ice stand in to replace it.

Jack is the official owner of Jack Frost Ice, featuring Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice. He works there with his dutiful employees, his parents. The stand features four flavors that change daily. Customers in the square for a concert Thursday night say Jack is a sign of new life in Athens.

“We just want to bring smiles back to Athens,” said Barrett. “Because people like to come down here and have some ice cream, but they can’t have that now. So we brought something new here.”

“We’ve lost, we had some hardship, but we have 34 businesses back and running,” said Ed Barrett, Jack’s father. “Jack is number 34 and it’s just a great idea.”

The Barrett family purchased the Little Jimmy’s stand and got approval from Athens Borough, which owns the park. Jack opened his stand two weeks ago, and his dad says he’s already inspired some other local kids to start their own businesses and help Athens recover.

http://www.wetmtv.com/news/local/story/Eight-Year-Old-Brings-Business-to-Athens/TYUuD5gnyk6970TRkRY2HA.cspx

Share

Holiday Business Activity

4th of July has been crazy for most of our vendors- we had a video sent over that I edited down and stuck some music in and a whole bunch of testimonials from customers that had events on the 4th of July. Here is the video:

We still have around a dozen carts left for this season. Let us know if you would like one or two of them- you still have the rest of July, August, September and October remaining in the Italian Ice season for 2012.

Here are the testimonials from this past 4th of July:

#1:  We were able to set up shop in less than 15 min to include the sink, tables and our helmet displays. We started off pretty good foot traffic was decent the free samples were key for us, once people got a taste we had folks coming back. I’m sure we had a little buzz going around for “Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice”. Unfortunately Monsoon season decided it wanted to dump rain on us and we had to endure 2 or three sets of good downpours. Even with the horrific weather we came out ahead we had smiling children and get this….we had a visit from a LONG time Eegees customer come by and ask to try some ice, since her grandchildren told her our Ice was MUCH better than Eegees. She first tried a sample and then fully converted and  ordered an ice for herself and told us her grand kids were RIGHT! I would have to say that was a highlight of the day and kept us going throughout the rain.
monsoon "italian ice"

Our feeling is, if we can be ahead during Monsoon rains, we just can’t wait for a sunny event.

Thank you for the support,

John and Sandra
Paradise Ice

 

 

#2: Hello Dennis, Things are going well we were actually working an event on the 4th. It was a good day, we averaged about $100 per hour.  Thanks for touch base!

Allen

#3:  We had our best day ever yesterday at the downtown celebration. We were lucky enough to be one of only a few vendors since this is the first time in several years our town has planned an event for the fourth but the crowds were huge and the event was well done. My husband tried to record video of our lines for the discount on our next order but he only got a few minutes because we needed everyone scooping and taking money. We ended up replacing at least 4 full tubs of ice from our two carts. Our hands are sore from scooping but it was all worth it and now even more Midlanders know about Italian Ice!! Thanks for everything! This has been such a wonderful business for us.

No, we’re actually leaving for California on Friday for Nationals in gymnastics that my daughter qualified for. When we get back we have been given permission to sell at twice a week at the Odessa Little League games which tie in perfectly with the helmets and we have a couple of trade shows and festivals lined up this month. By the way, one of the local television stations at the Fourth of July celebration gave us a small plug on air after we gave the anchors and their crew free ice and let me post a picture of them eating ice on my Facebook page. They came and talked to us after and asked us to let them know what events we will be at so they can cover them. That was kinda neat.

Bernadette & Todd Snodgrass

#4: (This is the Video Above) Unfortunately we were too busy scooping ices to watch the fireworks ;) We had an amazing day!! My daughter videoed us for about 15-20 min with long lines and no breaks.  When we can get it transferred from her phone to the computer we will  send it to you.

Hope to hear from you soon and hope you enjoyed your 4th.

Scooping all over PA,

Diana Paluch

#5:  We love selling the ice. The ice pushed our sales up to the 500 mark AGAIN for the 4th! Thank you! We should be ordering more later this year. Can’t wait.

Kimberly

#6: Hi Anthony- I’ve been finishing up some projects at work and getting ready for the spring events to start. I still have about 20 tubs left and have some events planned at the end of the month. Last year was a good time and I have been asked back to several events already this year. I’m now working with my Family which has a 501C3 business (http://www.marylandindiantourism.org/exhibits.php)since we recently became the first and only Native American Tribe to be recognized by the state of Maryland on January 9th, 2012 by Governor Martin O’Malley. This has created a great opportunity for my family and the tribe.

Thank you for keeping in touch and I hope you and the family are doing well. I’ll be in touch soon I’m sure to purchase more ice.

Regards,

Jay Newman

Share