Bruster's Real Ice Cream Testimonial: Richmond, VA

After more than three decades in the food industry, John Jack needed a change. He had spent years in sales and marketing for major brands like Kraft and General Foods, as well as smaller specialty companies. When he decided to settle down in Richmond, Virginia, after years of corporate relocations, he knew he wanted to own a business rather than start another corporate role.

John focused his search on nearby opportunities that matched his background and interests. “I was looking at businesses within about a 50-mile radius that were for sale,” he explained. “It wasn’t the fact that it was a franchise that was necessarily important to me.”

Eventually, his search led him to Bruster’s Real Ice Cream. The product category made sense to him, the business had history, and the franchise support structure gave him confidence. He bought two existing Bruster’s stores in the Richmond area and began his journey as a franchise owner.

Why He Chose Bruster’s

John explored a variety of businesses before settling on Bruster’s, including a childcare startup and other local opportunities. What drew him in wasn’t just the brand itself but the way it was set up behind the scenes.

“As I was looking at this, I met with Bruster’s corporate before I even talked to the franchisee, because I wanted to understand two things,” he said. “The support system that was there, and how that would enable success. And then also I learned a decent amount about the potential of the stores, where they were in their development, and the history, and some of that stuff.”

Bruster’s offered a proven system with room for owners to shape their own approach. “It’s buying an opportunity with whatever segment you’re in, and then you have to look at how you implement the strategies that they provide,” he explained. “Bruster’s is an environment that I think allows you to take your own flair and style.”

Turning Around Two “Sleepy” Stores

When John took over, each store was doing about $300,000 in annual revenue. He saw the chance to modernize operations and grow the business. “I knew that the stores had potential, and I knew that it had been run by somebody who had a very different style than I did,” he said.

John began upgrading the operations right away by adding online ordering, DoorDash, bringing modern technology to the drive-through and planning for self-order kiosks to meet younger consumers’ expectations.

“They’ve really done a great job of sort of contemporizing, because the stores that I have are the old walk-up only type. John adds, “I think the entire chain has just matured. It’s a great segment, and they have done a good job of combining things that are new and different that I can incorporate while still maintaining that traditional ice cream store, you know, that’s been here for 30 years,” he said.

Bruster’s offers approximately 150 recipes for franchisees to choose from, and John typically features 40 at any given time. He broke the flavors into categories so customers always have something new to try. “Variety is not only important to satisfy a broad number of consumers, but it also is so important for repeat sales,” he said. “Because if they only know and like one flavor on your menu, how many times are they going to come during a year? That’s why we do so much with seasonal flavors.”

John’s also leaned into Bruster’s hand-packed to-go option during the winter months to keep sales strong year-round. “Anybody can sell ice cream in June, when kids are out of school and it’s nice out,” he said. “It gets a little more challenging when it’s chilly. Whatever you can do in the non-high season is going to add to your bottom line.”

The Power of Franchise Support

One of the biggest benefits John points to is the infrastructure that Bruster’s provides.

“The supply chain stuff for the last several years has been daunting, and they've really done a great job of keeping us in business, because we count on them to keep the infrastructure support so we can get an order of everything we need every week to be able to make what we make,” he said. “If you can't make the product, you can't sell it, you're kind of out of business, obviously. So they’ve done a really nice job of that.”

Bruster’s Procurement and Project Management team negotiates and manages inventory of products, supplies, and equipment for the chain. “We’re not shopping around. We’re not trying to find the best price or the best product,” he said. “They’ve already got that in lockstep, and it goes all the way to the equipment side. So as I replace the equipment, I don’t have any question what I’m getting. I go to corporate, I say what should I be looking at, they say here’s two options. This would be our recommendation. And then I go with the recommendation. There’s no trying to figure it out.”

Building a Team and a Community

John employs about 75 to 80 people each year between his two locations, many of them young and in their first jobs. Watching them grow has been one of the most rewarding parts of his role as an owner.

“I would say that the biggest piece is being able to work with younger people and help them understand the business, take on responsibility and grow,” he said.

John spends about 30 to 35 hours a week supporting the leadership he has in place at his stores. “My goal is to give them all the tools, the knowledge and the infrastructure to be successful,” he said.

Financial Growth and Reflections

Since taking over, John has grown the total annual revenue from $600,000 to $1.5 million. “Ice cream, I knew going in was a pretty profitable category,” he said. “I’m probably just getting close to that point at the pinnacle, because I put a ton of the money, the cash flow, back into the infrastructure of the business to add technology and then to support growth and support better people. I’ve re-done most everything in both stores. I’m reaching a point when that’s going to diminish, which will allow me to make it even more financially rewarding.”

At 65, John recognizes how valuable the early years were in building momentum. “Once you get into this you understand, I guess it’s like anything,” he said. “That’s why the environment here used to be a lot of single store owners, and that’s all changing. And I think it’s because people have discovered how successful these can be once you kind of have the lay of the land.”

When asked if he’d do it all again, John said, “Oh, absolutely. In fact, I wish I would have done it earlier, because I probably would have been looking at expansion opportunities.”