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Looks like that was an Iowa City based company back in the day? I was thinking about Whitey's, based in Moline, IL as I read through the story. They have a fac

Looks like that was an Iowa City based company back in the day? I was thinking about Whitey's, based in Moline, IL as I read through the story. They have a factory in Moline, 8 locations in the Quad Cities, and supply to some Midwest grocery stores (notably Hy-Vee). They pull it off well, and have very reasonable prices. A friend from Minneapolis noted them as being the best value ice cream shop he's been to. Whitey's closed its two Iowa City locations a number of years ago. I'm guessing it simply wasn't worth it logistically. ~120 miles round trip in their own trucks, empty one way, driving up the cost per scoop compared to their locations in close proximity to the factory.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Yeah that was sad. Whiteys shop was right next door to the old Midwestern Ice Cream Co storefront actually! Not sure shipping was an issue - we actually have refrigerated trucks in Iowa. You can ship iced cream just like meat or anything else. Maybe long-distance management was problematic - not every business manager can figure out franchising. My sister has a Winan's Chocolate and Coffee shop in town, which is headquartered in Piqua Ohio! She used to work in that town, liked their product, and when she retired she walked into a store and said "I want to open one in Iowa!" The couple that runs the chain (3rd generation Winans) said "Sure! It'll be the first one West of the Mississippi!" Weeks of training, lots of specs for cabinetry and signage and her shop opened. With a 2-page agreement written on notepaper by Joe. Working 'ok'. Winans owns the other 24 shops, this is the only one owned by somebody else. So some bumps in the road early on - they kept sending 'standard loads' of chocolate, coffee and shop seasonal decoration even though in Iowa she sells lots more chocolate than coffee (the opposite of all the other stores), doesn't have the same furniture nor wall space for trimming, has little storage. Half the business is premium gift baskets for real estate agents, hotels etc. Everything is Ohio branded and this is Iowa. And so on. Anyway it works all kinds of ways.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

Yeah that was sad. Whiteys shop was right next door to the old Midwestern Ice Cream Co storefront actually! Not sure shipping was an issue - we actually have refrigerated trucks in Iowa. You can ship iced cream just like meat or anything else. Maybe long-distance management was problematic - not every business manager can figure out franchising. My sister has a Winan's Chocolate and Coffee shop in town, which is headquartered in Piqua Ohio! She used to work in that town, liked their product, and when she retired she walked into a store and said "I want to open one in Iowa!" The couple that runs the chain (3rd generation Winans) said "Sure! It'll be the first one West of the Mississippi!" Weeks of training, lots of specs for cabinetry and signage and her shop opened. With a 2-page agreement written on notepaper by Joe. Working 'ok'. Winans owns the other 24 shops, this is the only one owned by somebody else. So some bumps in the road early on - they kept sending 'standard loads' of chocolate, coffee and shop seasonal decoration even though in Iowa she sells lots more chocolate than coffee (the opposite of all the other stores), doesn't have the same furniture nor wall space for trimming, has little storage. Half the business is premium gift baskets for real estate agents, hotels etc. Everything is Ohio branded and this is Iowa. And so on. Anyway it works all kinds of ways.