Yes, finally, I can say those words: "We're open in North Andover!"

Good things come to those who wait, right?

At least, that's what people say when they get hit with continual delays on projects -- like what we've been hitting!

We were really hoping that we'd have the North Andover store open in July, but everything seems to take longer than expected, and here we are into August, and we're still finishing off the last few items.

The good news is that everything is now ready to go. Our equipment is in place, the water and electricity are connected, our walk in freezers are cold and ready. The last couple of tasks were getting the counters finished, and then getting the approval of the North Andover Health Department, and I'm happy to report that the health department inspector just left, and signed off on everything (with a few little items she wanted us to address as soon as possible!)

We were chomping at the bit last week, so Janae and I plugged in our new batch freezer and whipped up a few test batches of gelato, using our new ingredients. The construction workers were very impressed, and we even had a few hopeful customers come to the window who we surprised by giving them a free cup of our test batches.

Gelato is an amazing product -- it tastes much more intense than our ice cream, but has only one quarter of the butterfat. It's a very pleasant, light taste, and although it is going to cost a bit more than ice cream, as the raw ingredients are very expensive, I think it's going to be a hit among those adults who don't want the high fat content of ice cream.

Despite the late start, I really think you'll all be happy with the final result, as the place really looks great. We'll slowly be filling the freezers with our flavors, but bear with us while we work through our list. But come on by and help us in breaking in the new digs!

In other news, our North Reading location is humming right along. Our sales volumes are up for the month, even with that week or so of unseasonably cool weather early in the month. My managers and team leaders seem to be doing a nice job of keeping the stand running (mostly) smoothly, but there are sure to be a few bumps in the road, so please bear with them if things seem a little chaotic over the next few weeks!

The disappointing news is that it looks like this will be the last month that we'll operate the North Reading location. We had hoped to run both locations, but after talking to our landlord in North Reading, and hearing what he expects to raise the rent to, there's just no way we can run that spot and stand to make a profit, so we're going to be forced to close up as of the end of this month.

(Postscript: The landlord thinks that he's going to run that location, just selling Richardson's ice cream, and clean up on the goodwill that we've built for the location over the past few years. I told him "good luck"! We're working on another couple of locations close by, so if he does do this, I don't think they'll find a lot of people who fall for his bait and switch tactics.)

Press Coverage

We've been fortunate to receive quite a bit of press coverage around our new location, as we had articles about us published in both the North Andover Citizen, and in the Andover Townsman in recent weeks. If you didn't get a chance to see them, here are links to the online versions:

http://www.andovertownsman.com/local/local_story_094154700.html
http://www.townonline.com/northandover/news/x388357535

We also had a customer come to the window this week who reported that she heard about us on the Phantom Gourmet restaurant review show. I didn't catch that segment, but we were told that we received a very favorable rating. Guess I need to hunt to see if I can get a copy of that one!

As always, if you see or hear us mentioned somewhere, I'd love to hear about it!

Flavor News

I've been stretched a little thin with all of the work on the North Andover store, so haven't spent as much time trying out new flavors as I normally do this time of year. Bear with me, we'll soon be spending more time cranking out new flavors, and one or two of our often requested specialties should be on their way soon.

I made Apple Pie for the July 4th holiday, and we'll try to keep this one in stock right through the end of our season in North Reading, as it's always a fall favorite.

My production manager, Janae, took new team member Sheela up to my favorite blueberry picking location, Turkey Hill Farm, in Haverhill, and between the two of them, they picked over twenty pounds of fresh, sweet blueberries. We made the first batch of Blueberry sorbet this weekend, and it's a wonderful taste, so get it while it's in stock!

I've had quite a few requests for Chili-Chocolate, so expect that one to make a re-appearance as soon as I muster up the courage to cut up some Habenero chili peppers. (They're a dangerous food to work with, as they are so spicy hot, getting a squirt of juice in the eye can be a serious medical emergency, so I'm a little wary of working with them!)

We've also been getting requests for our old Lemon Nerds flavor, so we'll likely whip up a batch soon. I'm thinking of making this a flavor that we'll only serve to those under the age of 16 -- no self respecting adult should be allowed to eat ice cream with Nerds in it!

And, now that we're open in North Andover, I'm planning to start making our delicious Pumpkin Gingersnap "real soon now". In my (admittedly biased) opinion, this is the best specialty flavor we make, so come on by and try it.

And for kicks, come on by the North Andover location, and try some of our wonderful gelato! I'll talk more about gelato in the next newsletter, but trust me when I tell you that this is a wonderful product, and it's low in fat, to boot!

Staff Profile

We have so many new kids on this year's team, it's hard to pick one to feature here, so I thought maybe I'd just give a quick mention of a couple of our new "North Andover" group. (I'll do a more in-depth "picking on" for them later in the year, as I learn more about them.)

We have two "Meagans" this year, though they spell thier names a little differently. Meagan M is from North Andover, and got to the top of our prospective hires list by doing me the favor of hanging up posters announcing our available jobs at the North Andover High School. I happen to work with her dad at my day job, and I'm always a little wary of hiring the sons/daughters of friends, as it can lead to an uncomfortable situation if it turns out that they're not suited to working in an ice cream shop.

Luckily, it turns out I had no worries, as Meagan has been one of our steadiest new hires, and she's got future team leader written all over her. During the North Andover fit out, Meagan came by often to help set things up and get everything ready, and she's continually surprised me by being able to work her way through whatever difficulties she's come up against. Hopefully, she's going to be one of the anchors of our team for years to come.

Megan R. is our second Megan, and is from Andover. She is a student a Phillips Academy, and got our attention by cracking Maggie and me up as we read her responses to the questions on our job application. Megan has worked for a dog groomer, and had some humorous descriptions of her past job duties. We've had great luck in the past with Phillips students, and from the first few shifts Megan has worked, we're pretty certain that she's going to carry on that trend.

I've only had the chance to work closely with Megan for a few nights, but she's also impressed me, and I think she's going to be a wonderful part of our team as well.

Newsletter Coupon

Come on by our North Andover location, mention this coupon, and we'll be ecstatic to give you a free item with any other purchase. Yep, buy one, get one FREE!

That's all I have time for this week -- got lots of ice cream to make, but I'll write more shortly. Hope to see you at either of our locations soon!