What sell in an ice cream shop during the autumn/winter?

[adulii]

I own an ice cream shop based in a small tourist town. During the winter months it is obviously quieter. I would like ideas on what else I could sell to boost trade during the colder months. I already sell homemade cakes, teas & coffees. The shop can seat 8 people only. I can only sell sweet items so no savoury suggestions please!!!
Wedding Gifts India

[mr. beaumont]

Weirdest. First. Post. Ever.

[marcwhy]

Delete it, please.

[Solo Flight]

Maybe if you had some live jazz, more people would come in during the winter. Maybe a nice guitar-bass duo.

[TruthHertz]

Originally Posted by adulii

I own an ice cream shop based in a small tourist town. During the winter months it is obviously quieter. I would like ideas on what else I could sell to boost trade during the colder months. I already sell homemade cakes, teas & coffees. The shop can seat 8 people only. I can only sell sweet items so no savoury suggestions please!!!

Here's an idea I've always had, but I don't think I'll get around to it so I'll share it with you. Buy a blimp, one with those lightboard message displays on the side, and install an enclosed pneumatic tunnel from the ice cream shop to a point 40 feet up.
People can come in and you can offer hot chocolate for $40 and they get a free blimp ride. Once they have paid, you dock the blimp, use the pneumatic chute to launch them up to the gondola where they're greeted by pastel bean bag chairs, a soft carpet and a panoramic view.
You can sell cookies for $1.50 each, hot drinks for $2.95 and rice krispy squares for $2. It's cheaper than Starbucks and when is the last time you saw a Starbucks blimp, eh?
Here's the clincher. For $50 they can put any message on the side of the blimp for 10 minutes. You can sell each additional 10 minutes for $30. Imagine this as the new way for a guy to ask his girl to marry him, or a new way to announce to the world that your spouse is cheating on you, or a definitive way to share a new formula for the unified field theory of time/space. It's brilliant.
Of course if you really want to take a risky chance you can hire a jazz combo to play too, but there's a pretty good chance that won't fly.
David

[jmstritt]

You should definitely start having live jazz especially guitar groups.

[Tom Karol]

Yes absolutely - Jazz Guitars and Ice Cream go together like Butter and Water!

[TruthHertz]

Originally Posted by Tom Karol

Yes absolutely - Jazz Guitars and Ice Cream go together like Butter and Water!

Thanks for that image Tom. Now each time I see a dish of butter patties submerged in a pool of melted ice cubes in some truckstop diner, I'm going to be thinking of Joe Pass. Everytime I hear Barney Kessel I will be thinking of a buttery bagel sitting in a puddle. Thanks.
David

[brwnhornet59]

Yes, live Jazz and a Marijuana dispensary would be great additions to any ice cream shop. How cool would that be?

[fep]

Close the shop during the ski season and open a booth at a ski resort.

Ski until 10:30 am, open the booth at 11am. Go home at 5 pm, play jazz at night.

There was an ice cream shop at a ski resort I sometimes go to. They had lines all day long.

[FatJeff]

Originally Posted by adulii

I can only sell sweet items so no savoury suggestions please!!!

There must be a bylaw in your town that prohibits ice cream shops from selling savory treats. That's shame. I was going to suggest introducing falafael and gyros to the menu. Since you said are looking for a jazz-based audience for your live music events, you're going to have to get creative with your offerings, because it is a known fact that most jazz audiences don't like ice cream very much.

Also, waitresses in dirndls. I guarantee that will improve business. You can see what I mean by this other guy, who also owns a ice cream shop.

[hot ford coupe]

What the heck is a savoury treat? Is that like beef jerky or is that a sweet thing? Speaking of sweet things, I like the waitresses in the dirndls.

[morroben]

Have you considered investing in a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man?

YouTube Video

[TruthHertz]

Originally Posted by hot ford coupe

What the heck is a savoury treat? Is that like beef jerky or is that a sweet thing?

The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive:

YouTube Video

So there.
David

[WhoisLevang]

Chili!!!! or.... Mexican food and Jazz! Doubt it'll go over so well without the booze, but who knows?
El Chapultepec (El Chapultepec) op Myspace

If the poster is serious, adding a big ol' electric kettle of red chili would be an easy thing to do. Just make sure it's made from scratch and fresh daily! or.... Chitlin's con carne....

edit- oops! Missed the bit about only able to sell sweet items. ???? Ok, chocolate fondue!!! er... that's all I've got. ;-)

[Dark Star]

You might want to reconsider the "savory" thing. Think outside the geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung.