Ice cold in the Igloo

Ice cold in the Igloo

Igloo Desserts on Gray’s Ferry here in Philly gets my stamp of approval.  With 2,100 likes on Facebook at a 4.6 rating through 69 reviews, I suppose I’m not the only one who approves.

Now normally I wouldn’t go out of my way to express my support but the business model of this frozen yogurt establishment is rock solid.  My suspicion is that this shop is set up like thousands of other yogurt shops but dessert is a rarity for me so I’m out of touch.  My observations when I compare it to Dairy Queen which I’ve enjoyed in the past:

  • Self Serve machines in the back

    Self Serve machines in the back

    Yogurt is served out of self help machines instead of by an employee.  Brilliant.  More people can serve themselves at a time thus creating more revenue.

  • Only a few employees (maybe one), a cashier and a person who makes sure the machines produce, are needed.
  • The customer makes the dessert better than an employee would.   I could be stretching a bit here because I’m downplaying the ice cream “professional”  but I know the exact way I want to make my ice cream and I know it’ll be the way I like it.  Empower the consumer.
  • Price is done by weight.  No complaints as I got my fill of yogurt for under $5 bucks.
  • I was skeptical because my impression is that yogurt sucks.  However, I could hardly tell the difference and left feeling satisfied and fulfilled with the experience.
I consulted with this bro before I wrote this.

I consulted with this bro before I wrote this.

The website is professional and they keep up with social media.  I noticed also that with only 2 locations it’s not a chain with no human touch and customers support small business.  I can’t speak to how healthy it really is when I put 5 scoops of crushed up snickers bar on my dish but apparently it’s a push against “ice cream”.  This approach to serving dessert is a home run in my mind.  From someone who generally finds reasons he doesn’t like something before he does, I enjoyed it.