Ice Cream Shop Rolls in Town and Makes an Impression
On the main street in the small town of Harrison, New Jersey blossoms the newest business everyone in town has been talking about. Calling it the hottest place in town may technically not be the right term but that’s not to say that its popularity reigns. Bringing a viral trend to a local setting creates the basis for this booming business. Becoming the newest addition to the block’s storefront is ZRolls, the area’s first and so far only location selling stir-fried ice cream, commonly seen rolled up, that people can’t get enough of.
The 25-year old owner Jessie Zheng had the inspiration to open up the store thanks to her sister’s trip to Thailand when she sent Zheng various photos and videos of the rolled ice cream. With discovering a shop in Manhattan that specializes in the same desert, Zheng knew she wanted to see one closer to home. Despite having, “so many locations in mind,” being a Harrison resident gave all the more reason to start her business locally.
A native of China with parents who also in the restaurant business, Zheng only conceived the idea in April of this year and within about three months, she was seeing her plan come to life in front of her. Having a life long passion for the culinary arts, Zheng attended Baruch College in New York City but decided to obtain a degree in business instead.
“My parents own a restaurant so they don’t want to see me working in the kitchen.” says Zheng.
This also greatly helped when it came to getting the proper permits and paperwork for her own business.
So how does the process work?
For six dollars (tax included) you can choose from eight different flavors each created specifically with the client in mind.
“Most the flavors are based on the needs of customers.” Zheng said. “It is difficult to come up with new items. Not only the flavor of the ice cream but also all the toppings that go with it.”
Additional toppings are also available for an extra fifty cents and include tasty options such as a toasted marshmallow, a handful of M&Ms, coconut flakes, and much more. Each cup comes presented with all promised toppings and -due to its process- has an average waiting time of three minutes per cup.
One of the greatest features of the shop however is being able to see how your dessert is made. A clear barrier stands between the line of hungry clients and the employees in charge of creating the hot commodity.
“It’s cool that we can see how it’s made. I like knowing what goes into it.” says Wence Morales, a Harrison resident who enjoyed a Spring Festival cup with additional toppings. This along with the “variety of flavors” keeps Morales and -according to her- many others coming back for more.
First time customer Joe Gallo described his chosen flavor of Monkey Madness as “killer” and “amazing”, enough for the ice cream shop to “absolutely” expect his return. Gallo, who lives a block away from the shop, decided to stop by with his family after they “kept hearing about it around town.”
With Harrison only being a square mile size community, ZRolls gaining popularity through word of mouth makes sense. However, its social media presence cannot be ignored.
In the four months since its grand opening, ZRolls has accumulated over 800 Instagram followers and 6000 plus Facebook likes. A countless number of comments are of clients tagging friends and excitingly asking when they are going head on over. The shop even boasts a 4.5 out of 5 star rating on Yelp.
Zheng and her team have already noticed patterns in terms of what days will be busier than others and their clients’ preferred flavors.
“Slowest days would be when weather is bad -rain or cold. Weekends are the busiest time.” Zheng reveals. “As of now, Duo Oreo and Strawberry Shortcake are the most popular ones. Least selling could be Spring Festival.”
Overall, Zheng is pleased with how the shop is turning out especially since, “we didn’t really know what to expect when we first opened.”
Clearly, the shop is a success and Zheng hopes to attract a larger clientele to the Harrison store. In regards to franchising, she simply says, “Not sure yet. I want to focus more on the first shop before moving forward.”
