Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509210031
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
For many businesses that profit from the summer heat by selling cold treats, their season comes to a close as fall begins this week.
But for one Salem family that has made its living selling "flavored snow," business is just heating up.
The change in seasons means owner Jerrel Hanson will shift from selling the snow cones to sell clones - of his business.
The Bahama Sno Shacks on West Main Street and Apperson Drive in Salem look like - well, shacks no larger than one of those photo processing drop-off booths that dot shopping center parking lots.
His hot-weather product is simple - basically shaved ice flavored with one of about 48 concentrated syrups.
What he'll spend fall and winter months selling are business packages including the brightly colored, 10-by-8-foot shacks where syrup bottles line the walls in an array of colors.
A range of sizes from the 8-ounce "flurry" to the 32-ounce "glacier" are filled with the shaved ice and topped with the customer's flavor of choice - from bubble gum to pina colada.
Unique flavors like Tiger's Blood and Rock 'n' Roll are mixes of several flavors.
In all, about 75 flavors and mixes are offered and individual costs range from $1 to $2.50.
The Hanson family first opened two Bahama Sno Shacks in Danville four years ago, shortly after Jerrel Hanson lost his job as an operations manager for a concrete company there. He had just bought a house and needed to find a job in Danville that was comparable to his previous salary, he said.
Having lived in Texas, his wife, Janie, remembered a shaved-ice business that had been successful near Dallas. The couple decided to try it out in Danville.
"The first one took off immediately, and we built the second one the same year," Hanson said, remembering his first Bahama Sno Shack he opened in May 1991. He opened the second one in Danville in July 1991.
Now, 15 Bahama Sno Shacks are operating in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Hanson sold the two he opened in Danville. After moving to Salem about a year ago, he opened two shacks there this past spring. His son, Chris, now owns the one on Apperson.
The business works much like a franchising operation. Technically and legally, however, it is not a franchise, Hanson said. Under franchising, buyers must pay the parent company a percentage of profits in exchange for specific services.
He sells the operations in packages. For one set price, about $15,000, Hanson builds the shack and adds the equipment and materials needed to get started - generally the ice-shaving machine and a supply of the concentrated syrups. He purchases both products from a company in Salt Lake City, which he refuses to identify for competitive reasons.
The profit turnaround is quick, he said, and if operated right and in a good location, profits can average $40,000 a season.
"Everyone we've sold to so far have never been in business for themselves," he said. "A family that can work it can make a living at it."
Potential owners are given the option to use the Bahama Sno Shack name. If they choose to do so, Hanson will maintain the equipment and inspect the buildings for a management fee.
The buyers also have the option to purchase supplies directly from Hanson, who buys in bulk.
So far, all businesses he has sold have opted to keep the Bahama Sno Shack name, Hanson said.
"They see the simplicity and something they can get into with little capital interest," Hanson said. "This is really geared to a family-type business."
Since opening in Danville, Hanson has sold an average of five shaved-ice businesses per year.
Seven were opened last year, including the two his family owns in Salem. Next year, he expects six more to open, with three of them in the Roanoke Valley - on Williamson Road, in Vinton and in Troutville. He is also trying to open one in Christiansburg or Blacksburg.
Hanson's goal is to maintain the sales pace of five per year.
"I would rather limit it to five and train them as they open up," he said.
At one point, Hanson said he tried to operate four shacks, but they were too tough to manage without having to increase the number of employees.
Hanson sees the business as a family affair and intends to keep it that way to hold the overhead to a minimum. He, Janie and daughter Kelly are the primary operators of the West Salem Plaza shack.
Hanson attributes some of his family's success to the popularity of his product, which has become a favorite dessert as health has become more of an issue for consumers.
The product has been marketed under several names, such as Italian ice and shaved ice.
The Hansons will close for the season at the first of October and open again the first of April. Then Jerrel Hanson will get busy building future shacks.
But in the meantime, "we're going on vacation," Hanson said.
Where to? Where else - the Bahamas.
by CNB