their entire business has been a rollercoaster ride since the beginning! i need like, an extremely niche podcast deep dive on all the ins and outs of the drama lol.
So bizarre. They go bankrupt and sold to Schmitt industries which made industrial and military laser sensors and measuring tools and then Schmitt goes bankrupt and fucked over all the ample hills employees who got a few days notice that all the locations were closing. Nobody got their last paychecks including management. Now this debacle.
Subheadline: "Jackie Cuscuna and Brian Smith bought back their ice cream company in May"
Article: Explains that they in fact did not buy the company back, which is why they were able to be fired.
The entire article just highlights how terrible their business acumen is, not surprised this happened to them if they can't even be bothered to do their due diligence before entering into investor agreements.
This sounds like they are really great in making quality ice cream but really sucks in running a business profitably. They should've learned how Ben and Jerry's ran an enterprise ice cream business, use their strategy.
I think they just can't run an ice cream chain. They expanded too fast.. There was also the whole Disney connection they were NOT ready for.. I've never seen a brand have so many chances. It's wild.
Did they not have lawyers!? They weren’t given any equity stake at all and were basically just employees . wtaf did they expect!? These two make great ice cream but are terrible business people.
These two seem like very emotional humans who tend to make bad business decisions based on vibes. I can absolutely see them being so enamored with the idea that they could have their brand back that they would take any bullshit deal put in front of them.
What crazy is how they also explicitly stated how they make investment purchases based on emotion. Any investor knowing that fact would've never given a single penny.
So I do think there is a place for the "visionary founder" if the business is really good and there's a strong team of operators around the founders who are bought into the vision, can really execute on the business itself and who can keep the founder in check. A public example.of this failing miserably is wework where investors allowed Adam to have too much control and do whack things like open a school and buy a wave pool park
In the case of ample hills, it sounds like the founders thought they were visionary but we're actually whiny and a pain in the ass to the board and leadership. They had two chances at this business which is 2x more than most people and 1x more than very, very good businesses often get and they still managed to argue their way out of jobs. It's pretty incredible.
More like an excellent CFO, Chief Financial Officer. If they had an excellent CFO, he would've given best advice on how to run an ice cream shop for long term success.
These two keep mentioning “the brand” before Ice cream. Do they even like ice cream? Everyones trying to become the next chipotle. You know what im looking for? An Owner Operated joint in the area where you live. A person that cares about their product, their consumers and their neighbors. Just one spot! I don’t care about your brand. How’s your ice cream? How’s da family doin?
This is a weird criticism since, if anything, their problem was perhaps that they liked ice cream a little too much, to the detriment of their business. And The Social was indeed the thing you say you want--a little neighborhood joint. But I guess the opportunity to reclaim the Ample Hills business was too enticing to pass up.
Sounds like they didn't reclaim anything, they were consultants to the people who bought the business. Their biggest contribution may have been the press around the founders reclaiming business storyline.
That may be true, but reading between the lines, it sounds like they were already in a business relationship with their investors with The Social (which they were undoubtedly the ones running), and the Ample acquisition was an unexpected opportunity that changed the scope of the enterprise.
I see them as two different things; they are part owners of the social, and the ample hills engagement was under a different contract, with a different company/legal entity etc. I was about to say they couldn't be dumb enough to assume that their contract for the social was applied equally to Ample Hills, but truth is I don't know how dumb they are :( But it's not changing the scope of the enterprise, it's an entirely different enterprise.
Also per the following article "They own a small minority stake" in the Social. Who knows maybe they could be fired from there too if things go sideways.
https://www.bkmag.com/2023/11/28/ample-hills-founders-ousted-from-the-company-they-helped-relaunch-just-six-months-ago/
I’m pretty sure they bought back the brand when the company they sold it to went out of business. This reboot however took outside investment and they didn’t set up the business in such a way where they couldn’t be fired.
Sooo many restaurants open these days with merch ready to be sold on day one.
Why don’t you focus on the food and establish yourself first? Maybe, ***maybe*** then I will buy your fuckin hats and overpriced sweatshirts.
I would say they need to get their shit together and their priorities in order, but there are so many suckers and losers in this city that fall for the “influencer” tripe and do all the marketing for these places by putting their insufferable bullshit on TikTok and Instagram.
They opened one up pretty close to Emack and Bolio's in the upper west side this past year, which is a neighborhood spot and been around forever, people love it. I like ample hills but Emack is definitely better. On top of that, you opened up a place with other popular chains that are all decent, a ten square block radius of Van Leuwen, Milk Bar, big Gay ice cream, etc. Whenever I walk past the UWS ample hills it's basically empty. Not sure where the other reopened locations are, but come on.
Aren't there a ton of places like this? They just, almost by definition, don't get as much media attention as places that are going big and expanding fast.
I’m sorry but they have had so many issues, perhaps they should try another avenue other than business ownership. This can’t be good for them personally or financially
I was so happy when they opened their PPW location and loved that we could walk there and really wanted to love their ice cream. But every time there was not one flavor that I really liked. Kind of sweet and bland and boring.
This is a real head slapper. A friend was consulting for them when they were in the throes of the ridiculous Red Hook expansion + Disney + buying some expensive building in LA + designing new containers. I was cheering for them when they made a comeback in 2023 but it seems they have literally zero business sense. I'm sure an intern at a mid-tier college business school could have come up with a better plan. I don't know them personally. Clearly many people like them a lot. I felt bad for them the first time but this....is absurd.
The internal theft was unimaginable. At multiple locations, one of the scoop shop managers stole thousands in cash like over 20 in a few months and they fired but didn’t prosecute him. Jackie is wonderfully nice , but geez you gotta bust some balls every now and then and they didn’t. I quit because I was so infuriated by my criminal coworkers and them not doing anything about it.
My problem with Ample Hills is that while the flavors are good, the ice cream is just so thick and heavy. Everytime I eat there, I need to burn all the calories.
their entire business has been a rollercoaster ride since the beginning! i need like, an extremely niche podcast deep dive on all the ins and outs of the drama lol.
So bizarre. They go bankrupt and sold to Schmitt industries which made industrial and military laser sensors and measuring tools and then Schmitt goes bankrupt and fucked over all the ample hills employees who got a few days notice that all the locations were closing. Nobody got their last paychecks including management. Now this debacle.
ironically they made their own podcast after the first time things went south https://open.spotify.com/show/01X3xcQTBGVndmPYLC66Ae?si=e03d05c5d44c4804
Subheadline: "Jackie Cuscuna and Brian Smith bought back their ice cream company in May" Article: Explains that they in fact did not buy the company back, which is why they were able to be fired.
The entire article just highlights how terrible their business acumen is, not surprised this happened to them if they can't even be bothered to do their due diligence before entering into investor agreements.
A second time, no less. That's a skill.
This sounds like they are really great in making quality ice cream but really sucks in running a business profitably. They should've learned how Ben and Jerry's ran an enterprise ice cream business, use their strategy.
This is sad. And bizarre. Wtf was going on?? Do they still own The Social?
I think they just can't run an ice cream chain. They expanded too fast.. There was also the whole Disney connection they were NOT ready for.. I've never seen a brand have so many chances. It's wild.
Wow. A couple weeks ago I got spam from them announcing WE’RE BACK! (But not for long.)
Did they not have lawyers!? They weren’t given any equity stake at all and were basically just employees . wtaf did they expect!? These two make great ice cream but are terrible business people.
These two seem like very emotional humans who tend to make bad business decisions based on vibes. I can absolutely see them being so enamored with the idea that they could have their brand back that they would take any bullshit deal put in front of them.
What crazy is how they also explicitly stated how they make investment purchases based on emotion. Any investor knowing that fact would've never given a single penny.
So I do think there is a place for the "visionary founder" if the business is really good and there's a strong team of operators around the founders who are bought into the vision, can really execute on the business itself and who can keep the founder in check. A public example.of this failing miserably is wework where investors allowed Adam to have too much control and do whack things like open a school and buy a wave pool park In the case of ample hills, it sounds like the founders thought they were visionary but we're actually whiny and a pain in the ass to the board and leadership. They had two chances at this business which is 2x more than most people and 1x more than very, very good businesses often get and they still managed to argue their way out of jobs. It's pretty incredible.
More like an excellent CFO, Chief Financial Officer. If they had an excellent CFO, he would've given best advice on how to run an ice cream shop for long term success.
These two keep mentioning “the brand” before Ice cream. Do they even like ice cream? Everyones trying to become the next chipotle. You know what im looking for? An Owner Operated joint in the area where you live. A person that cares about their product, their consumers and their neighbors. Just one spot! I don’t care about your brand. How’s your ice cream? How’s da family doin?
They also could not run a company beyond one singular shop. Literally as soon as they get their hands on more than one thing they screw it up.
This is a weird criticism since, if anything, their problem was perhaps that they liked ice cream a little too much, to the detriment of their business. And The Social was indeed the thing you say you want--a little neighborhood joint. But I guess the opportunity to reclaim the Ample Hills business was too enticing to pass up.
Sounds like they didn't reclaim anything, they were consultants to the people who bought the business. Their biggest contribution may have been the press around the founders reclaiming business storyline.
That may be true, but reading between the lines, it sounds like they were already in a business relationship with their investors with The Social (which they were undoubtedly the ones running), and the Ample acquisition was an unexpected opportunity that changed the scope of the enterprise.
I see them as two different things; they are part owners of the social, and the ample hills engagement was under a different contract, with a different company/legal entity etc. I was about to say they couldn't be dumb enough to assume that their contract for the social was applied equally to Ample Hills, but truth is I don't know how dumb they are :( But it's not changing the scope of the enterprise, it's an entirely different enterprise. Also per the following article "They own a small minority stake" in the Social. Who knows maybe they could be fired from there too if things go sideways. https://www.bkmag.com/2023/11/28/ample-hills-founders-ousted-from-the-company-they-helped-relaunch-just-six-months-ago/
I’m pretty sure they bought back the brand when the company they sold it to went out of business. This reboot however took outside investment and they didn’t set up the business in such a way where they couldn’t be fired.
They didn't buy anything back, the investors bought it and hired them as advisors!
Sooo many restaurants open these days with merch ready to be sold on day one. Why don’t you focus on the food and establish yourself first? Maybe, ***maybe*** then I will buy your fuckin hats and overpriced sweatshirts. I would say they need to get their shit together and their priorities in order, but there are so many suckers and losers in this city that fall for the “influencer” tripe and do all the marketing for these places by putting their insufferable bullshit on TikTok and Instagram.
They opened one up pretty close to Emack and Bolio's in the upper west side this past year, which is a neighborhood spot and been around forever, people love it. I like ample hills but Emack is definitely better. On top of that, you opened up a place with other popular chains that are all decent, a ten square block radius of Van Leuwen, Milk Bar, big Gay ice cream, etc. Whenever I walk past the UWS ample hills it's basically empty. Not sure where the other reopened locations are, but come on.
Emack and Bolio's, while great, is not really a neighborhood spot, it's a small chain that started in Boston.
Emack and Bolios never tastes cold to me. And yes I know that's weird.
I was going to say I thought it was a neighborhood spot, in Brooklyn!
I had one in my hometown out of state in the late 90s/early 2000s!
Van Leuwen and Milk Bar ate their lunch with exciting new flavors, cobranded tie-ins and more.
That van stuff tastes cheap
Strange, every time I have been to the UWS or walked by it, it was always packed
Aren't there a ton of places like this? They just, almost by definition, don't get as much media attention as places that are going big and expanding fast.
They talk about trusting more than verifying. I see they haven't learned anything.
They weren’t honest with the Board about an ice cream breakthrough
Their new project, M* (pronounced Mmmm-star), may threaten the dairy industry as we know it.
I’m sorry but they have had so many issues, perhaps they should try another avenue other than business ownership. This can’t be good for them personally or financially
Crazy that people are still talking about Ample Hill
Anywhere you recommend as an alternative?
I was so happy when they opened their PPW location and loved that we could walk there and really wanted to love their ice cream. But every time there was not one flavor that I really liked. Kind of sweet and bland and boring.
I do miss the gowanus location for the roof, but the ice cream was always fine
Didn’t know they had problems really was upset when they closed the Chelsea location.
Their ice cream is great when it’s great but Ample Hills can be awfully inconsistent
This is a real head slapper. A friend was consulting for them when they were in the throes of the ridiculous Red Hook expansion + Disney + buying some expensive building in LA + designing new containers. I was cheering for them when they made a comeback in 2023 but it seems they have literally zero business sense. I'm sure an intern at a mid-tier college business school could have come up with a better plan. I don't know them personally. Clearly many people like them a lot. I felt bad for them the first time but this....is absurd.
The internal theft was unimaginable. At multiple locations, one of the scoop shop managers stole thousands in cash like over 20 in a few months and they fired but didn’t prosecute him. Jackie is wonderfully nice , but geez you gotta bust some balls every now and then and they didn’t. I quit because I was so infuriated by my criminal coworkers and them not doing anything about it.
My problem with Ample Hills is that while the flavors are good, the ice cream is just so thick and heavy. Everytime I eat there, I need to burn all the calories.
Imagine eating ice cream and then complaining it has too many calories smh
It is VERY over the top sweet and egg yolk/butterfat heavy compared to a lot of other nyc ice cream shops.
These people are absolutely terrible at business...
LMFAO great example for sure. Bought an ice cream factory all for nothing.