This summer”™s heat waves helped to make Jim Malin a popular man ”” the Stratford-based entrepreneur is the owner and operator of Jim”™s Ice Cream Truck, which offers a selection of frozen favorites from an orange-hued mobile dispensary.
Malin came into this sector in 2003 as an employee for a truck operator selling ice cream via street vending.
“And I thought to myself, ”˜Wow, this would be pretty good if I owned it myself,”™” he recalled. “I”™ve always wanted to be a business owner. So, I just kept the idea in the back of my mind for a few years until late 2009 when I bought my truck, and then I started running it in 2010.”
Originally calling his business Subzero Ice Cream, Malin put his name on the business and began to build a market that covers the triangular geography spanning Danbury to Newtown to New Haven. And unlike his earlier work, he realized a more lucrative customer base away from street-level consumer activity.
“In the earlier years, I did a lot of street vending,” he continued. “As time went on, I realized that that parties were where the money is. I started focusing on the marketing to build up my connection to parties, and I”™m at the point now where I really don”™t do any street vending anymore. I just get hired for big parties, small parties, birthday parties, employee appreciation or customer-appreciation parties.”
Malin”™s ice cream offerings are entirely pre-packaged goods ”” he avoids soft ice cream, citing the onerous preparation and serving process. His truck”™s 30-cubic-foot freezer houses 30 options designed to please all tastes ”” he observed that the SpongeBob SquarePants ice cream is “very popular” with his younger customers while the adult crowd appreciates the offerings from the New Haven-based Gelato Giuliana.
However, not every ice cream offering is a winner.
“The orange cream bar is kind of a slow seller,” Malin lamented. “I guess the old recipe ice cream bars are just too old fashioned.”
Malin”™s business thrived to the point that he acquired a second ice cream truck in February 2020 ”” one month before the Covid-19 pandemic took root. While social distancing protocols put a temporary kibosh on the parties that fueled his business, Malin switched gears back to street vending and found a new and highly appreciative audience.
“The street sales went up because people were stuck at home,” he said. “They weren”™t supposed to go to restaurants, so the ice cream truck coming down the street made it feel like there was some form of excitement.”
Malin has relied on word of mouth and social media to spread the word on Jim”™s Ice Cream Truck ”” he recently made his first attempt at paid advertising and lamented that he “spent a little too much” on that approach. He also described the impact of high inflation as a “bit of an annoyance” that forced him to raise his prices slightly.
As for payment options, Malin has covered all bases ”” in addition to cash and credit card options, he also accepts checks, Apple Pay, PayPal and Venmo.
“Up until a couple of years ago, people were surprised that I took anything other than cash,” he said. “When I was doing more street vending, mothers with their kids would be walking down the street and the first thing they would say is ”˜I don”™t have cash,”™ so I specifically put up a sign that said I take credit ”” this way, they didn”™t have an excuse. But in today”™s world, you have to be ready with all of these electronic payments ”” anyone who really wants to thrive in the business has to keep up with the times.”
Jim”™s Ice Cream Truck is a seasonal operation, starting in April and running through October. And while he gets a handful of calls for parties in his off-season, Malin stated business is “basically dead in the winter.” But that”™s not to say he isn”™t working during the colder weather months.
“My original career was mechanics and I come up with a list of repairs and maintenance and things to do,” he said. “I try to knock them all out over the winter. I also try to come up with some marketing ideas. And I have two small kids and they keep me plenty busy ”” I can give the babysitter a little break during the winter.”
