If Nicole Roy gets stuck on the wrong side of the tracks at the wrong time of day, she could literally lose gallons of her business. It’s a risky situation that’s forced her to find a better storage space for her products.
Roy, the owner of the popular ice cream shop Scoops, relies on freezer space to house her product. Her store, located on the corner of Broadway Street and Myrtle Avenue, only has enough room for a limited amount of ice cream. Roy keeps the majority of her flavours outisde of the Scoops building.
“Ninety per cent of my ice cream has to go to offsite storage,” she said.
Roy will often drive to the storage site to pick up more product. During peak hours, she’s had to rush out and grab more containers while customers file in. Scoops’ increased popularity makes it difficult for the in-store supply to keep up with the demand.
“The store’s gotten considerably busier over the years,” Roy said. “[It] is putting pressure on our already-strained capacity for product.
“We need more space.”
Two train tracks rest between Scoops and the offsite storage. Due to the frequent, lengthy, and at time unpredictable trains that cut through Yorkton daily, Roy runs the risk of getting stuck behind a 10-minute railway blockage while buckets of ice cream melt in her truck.
“If I ever get stuck behind trains, I could lose my business,” she said.
Roy wants her storage space closer to Scoops. She purchased an ATCO trailer (similar to a construction trailer) and plans to wire it like a freezer.
“It’s big enough that I can separate it into three zones,” she said. “I can have dry storage for the containers..., refrigerated storage for the base products..., and freezer storage [for] the completed products.”
Roy wanted to plant the trailer behind the Scoops building, losing a few parking spaces in the process. Unfortunately, CP Railway (which owns the lot behind Scoops) declined Scoops’ request for the trailer next to the building.
Roy is currently looking for an alternative site close to Scoops that can house the trailer. If she finds a spot, she plans to make the trailer visually appealing.
“We don’t want it to be ugly,” she said.
Roy is grateful for Scoops’ expansion over the years. She hopes extra trailer space can help her business reach a new level of success.
“People...come from all over the place...for ice cream,” she said. “It’s an awesome little business.
“I’d like to see it become... bigger [and] better.”
