Erika Stubbs and her children, Morgan and Arthur, loved to visit Annie’s Frozen Yogurt and Water Ice on Lawrenceville Pennington Road. But when they walked up the the shop and saw a sign on the door, indicating it had closed unexpectedly in May, they were disappointed.
A week later, Stubbs drove by the space and noticed a sign that read “Turnkey Opportunity” and was immediately intrigued. She sent her fiance, Renard Smoots, a text message. Smoots was laid off from his corporate sales job in February, and the two had thought about opening a small business. They met with Rick Wright, the former Annie’s owner, did some research and a few months later, Scoops ‘n’ Swirls was born.
The couple, who have been together for three years and plan to marry in early 2017, held the shop’s grand opening in August. Scoops ‘n’ Swirls offers 10 flavors of frozen yogurt, 15 flavors of homemade ice cream, a variety of water ice and fresh toppings.
Stubbs and Smoots inherited everything from equipment to employees from Annie’s—a huge weight off their shoulders, for sure. Smoots said he and Stubbs can focus on cultivating the shops culture rather than sweating small details that some small business owners “can get swallowed in.”
“Having someone who already capitalized the business is great for a business owner,” he said. “Having a team of young people who are committed, energetic, really smart and oriented to do great customer service made it so that we could focus on other parts of the business: No. 1, us learning. As a matter of fact, the first couple of days we were open, we would tell customers the kids were the boss.”
Many of their employees are Lawrence, Notre Dame and Hopewell high school students. Smoots said he and Stubbs meet with the parents of each employee they hire.
Stubbs is a Lawrence High School graduate who has been teaching in the district for 24 years. She is currently an academic support instructor at Lawrence Intermediate School. She grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and moved to New Jersey with her family when she was 7 years old. A Rutgers graduate, Stubbs said she’s lived all over but returned to her Lawrence roots six years ago.
Smoots, a St. Louis native, spent five years in the Air Force as an officer and left a captain. He came to the east coast with General Electric’s management development program and spent 10 years with the company, ultimately ending up as a vice president at Lockheed Martin. He also did some product marketing and sales consulting on his own. Smoots spent the last 13 years with Sprint until February.
So, why a small business?
“It’s something about cultivating your own,” Smoots said. “We don’t have children together. We both have our own children. This is our baby. It’s something that your pour yourself into and you love. It grows. It’s pride, accomplishments, financial reward, hopefully. It’s things we all long for when you go to work. People talk about if you do something you love, you never work a day in your life. When you have a small business that you love, that’s exactly what it’s like.”
It hasn’t come without its challenges, though. They’ve made some mistakes, like ordering the wrong supplies and running out of items. Some flavors have been flops. The days are long, but suggestions from customers or successful flavors like strawberry cheesecake and chocolate caramel chunk make those hours worth it.
Stubbs said one customer, a yoga instructor, pitched a “Yoga and Yogurt” day, where customers take a 30-minute yoga class outside of the shop and then enjoy frozen yogurt after.
“We want to be a place that has something for everyone,” Stubbs said. “We have moms and their babies, we have little kids coming through, we have a camp that lets out every day here. Friends of our staff, families. We’ve had seniors come through. We just like the range of people that enjoy us here. We feel like the same people are coming in. It feels like a little Lawrence family.”
A loyal customer base is part of the challenge, though, Smoots said.
“You have to figure out how to engage those customers in the offseason,” he said. “Figuring out how to be more than just a place where people go to get ice cream is the key. We want to be a community center. It has to be a place where people are living part of their lives.”
Smoots and Stubbs plan to introduce ice cream cakes—Stubbs recently took a cake decorating class—and kids’ birthday parties. They hope to host fundraisers for local organizations and sports teams, and they plan on introducing desserts from Ewing’s Judith’s Dessert Boutique in October.
“It complements both of our businesses,” Smoots said. “She does a lot of farmers markets, but as it gets cold, farmers market traffic goes down, so she’s looking for retail doors. As it gets cold, ice cream sales go down, so we’re looking for other ways to bring people into the shop. We want to do it in a way that complements what we already sell. Pies a la mode, that’s a fit.”
So far, the frozen yogurt has been Scoops ‘n’ Swirls’ most popular offering—the community is receptive to the self-serve model, Stubbs said. Their goal now is to facilitate that aspect of the business while reinforcing their homemade ice cream and keeping a presence in the community, too.
“We want to be an integral part of the community 12 months a year,” Smoots said. “That is a challenge. Customers are a great part, but staying relevant is a key change.”
Scoops ‘n’ Swirls, 160 Lawrenceville Pennington Road. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Phone: (609) 895-0843.
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