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TIMES OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS 3
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Published: February 12, 2008
OLDSMAR - The local ice cream shop was the social center of town when Robert Falls was growing up in the early 1970s in Gastonia, N.C.
He smiles at the memories of his father asking him to join him for a milkshake. Friends and other family members would inevitably drop into the shop, with its black-and-white tile floors and shiny counter stools.
"That kind of atmosphere that I grew up on is the atmosphere I want to create here," Falls says. "It's such a joy to see families come in. And the kids - their eyes just light up."
It's not just ice cream proving to be the draw at the Junction Creamery Cafe, Falls' new shop in the Bay Arbor Plaza in Oldsmar. The aptly named Junction brings Joffrey's coffee and teas and Old Meeting House ice cream under the same roof - with Mike's Pies featured for good measure.
It was just the mix for the former Coast Guardsman who was looking for a business opportunity.
"I've been wanting to do ice cream for many, many years," Falls says. "The combination of the products was so great. I fell in love with that."
The Junction hatched from a small retail shop within the Old Meeting House plant on South MacDill Avenue, where passers-by could order the stuff that usually heads out to restaurants and "scoop shops" throughout the Southeast. A discussion between the heads of Old Meeting House and Joffrey's cemented the deal.
"It's hard to make it on just ice cream, unless you're in an extremely busy area," says Matthew Hoffman, owner and chief executive at Old Meeting House. "And it's the same with just coffee. But if you mix the two together, you have a reason for someone to come to you any time of the day."
That former Old Meeting House shop is now a company-owned Junction. Falls became the company's first licensee and opened the Oldsmar shop three months ago, and plans call for six to eight more outlets across Florida and possibly out-of-state in 2008, according to Jodi Stanley, concept development coordinator.
The ice cream and coffee companies partnered to offer the Junction as a licensed concept, rather than as a franchise. Owner-operators don't have to pay huge franchise fees or make major up-front investments, but must provide Joffrey's and Old Meeting House brands exclusively. The Junction doesn't collect royalties on sales but offers support in marketing and training.
Participants say it's a great way to get the local products in front of customers at the counter, complementing the wholesale markets they typically serve. That's the draw for Mike's Pies, which welcomed the chance to provide its products to the Junction concept.
"We get asked all the time where people can get our pies," says Mike Martin of his namesake company. "We fully support these retailers that are out there supporting us, and marketing the fact that they have our pies."
Bringing together various brands under one roof is a fairly recent concept, according to Terry Hill, spokesman for the International Franchise Association, but the so-called "co-branding" is growing in popularity. Perhaps the highest-profile effort has been undertaken by Yum Brands, he says, with its Taco Bell-KFC-Pizza Hut outlets.
"They're bringing in brands that complement each other, and the approach can also be used to leverage each other - share advertising budgets, things like that," Hill says.
And there's another advantage to providing separate brands in the same place. Witness Falls working on his latest invention: In a blender, he mixes Key Lime Pie-flavored ice cream, white chocolate sauce that would typically go into a coffee drink, and an actual slice of Key Lime pie.
The result? "Rob's Pie Shake-A-Latte," a decadent frozen drink that explodes with flavor.
"I get just as much enjoyment out of serving this as they do enjoying the product," Falls says.
Reporter Jerome R. Stockfisch can be reached at jstockfisch@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8402.
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Posted by ( TampaTrue ) on February 12, 2008 at 5:04 p.m.
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