An ice cream business selling forty different flavors of handmade ice cream, along with sundaes, handmade waffle cones, and milkshakes, is looking to open a shop location in an existent building on Route 19 next semester.
Addie’s Ice Cream is a business owned by Houghton graduates Addie and Andrew Silbert. Addie and Andrew met as students at Houghton during a choir tour. They married after Addie graduated in 2007 and lived in Fillmore until Andrew graduated the year afterward. They then bought an ice cream shop and restaurant in Findley Lake, New York in 2009, with the intent to run it along with their full time jobs elsewhere. Addie had worked at the restaurant since she was in high school and knew the business well.
However, the Silberts ran into difficulties in the early years of owning and operating the restaurant. “The first two years were very difficult. We both quit our full time jobs and just jumped right in,” said Addie Silbert. The problems sprang from the fact that they were located in a town where business was only profitable seasonally. As a result, the business no longer operates as a restaurant, but in the past few years the Silberts have seen their ice cream manufacturing and distribution business take off. The couple now sell their ice cream to many different vendors across New York, including the Chautauqua Institution near Jamestown.
Four weeks ago, the couple approached Professor Ken Bates, business, regarding the possibility of opening a second Addie’s ice cream shop in Houghton. Bates had kept in touch with Addie Silbert over the years as she was a former business major and the Silberts went to him to ask for his expertise and advice in opening a shop in Houghton.
“Several businesses in the past have tried to set up here in Houghton and have failed. It’s a long list of businesses,” said Bates, “In the back of my mind, I’m trying to sift through their ideas to somehow protect them from the same path that a few others have gone down.” He continued, “As I was talking with them, I made sure to approach everything that might cause this to be a bad idea. We turned over every rock with them, but it appeared like this business could work. It could really be a winner.”
Where Bates sees the success of this business at Houghton is that their main profits are focused on manufacturing and distributing the ice cream, not on sales from their shop alone. “The key to their business is in manufacturing,” said Bates, “The ice cream shop that most of us will see and enjoy is a sort of a ‘icing on the cake’ thing, if you will. If that was their only business here, then again I might be questionable about if that could work here.”
The Silberts are excited to be opening a shop at Houghton, a place where they have many fond memories, and they are hoping to eventually move their family of four to Houghton. “Our goal is to move somewhere around Houghton. The community is wonderful here,” said Addie Silbert, “I feel like if this is what is going to take our business to the next step, then this is definitely a place where we would like our kids to be raised.”
It is possible that the Silberts might move their manufacturing business to Houghton as well. The student-run Houghton Business Consulting Group has recently formed a team to analyze the volume of sales that Addie’s Ice Cream would receive to be justifiable to expand or move their manufacturing to Houghton. The Consulting Group are also looking at initiatives made in the state legislature that encourage businesses to open near college campuses. The reports made by the Consulting Group should be finalized by the end of the semester, as a service project to the community.
Above all, Addie and Andrew Silbert are looking to make their shop at Houghton student-friendly. “People want to get off campus once and awhile, and there’s nowhere to go,” said Addie Silbert, “I think that would be something we would like to provide.” Among other things, they would like to establish a lounge area in their shop for students to do homework, meet with friends, or host birthday parties. The location of their building has yet to be determined, but it will most certainly be located on Route 19.