America was ice cream crazy in 1927. It was the roaring '20s and a high calorie dessert fit right in with the age of excess that band leader Fred Waring celebrated with a hit song.
MUSIC: "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. Rah…rah…rah…"
Five years later, the music of Depression-era America was much more somber, but a Cleveland businessman, named Alex Basset, figured it was the perfect time to open a business that catered to the public's need for an affordable indulgence, something to help them forget hard times…an ice cream shop. He called it, "Pierre's".
SHELLEY ROTH: “I am told it was a fabricated, dreamed-up name to go along with the reputation that the original founder wanted, which was for French ice cream and real high quality, gourmet ice cream.”
Shelley Roth's father, Sol, bought the business from Basset in 1960 and, continued to sell a high-class product that didn't put too much of a strain on working class wallets. Roth says Pierre's stuck to that founding philosophy, but hasn't been afraid to stay flexible and open to innovation.
SHELLEY ROTH: “When you focus on what has helped us survive through good and bad times, I think, in many ways, it's because we keep up with technology.”
Blobs of mint ice cream with the unlikely name “Moose Tracks”…plop into a line of pint containers in Pierre's brand new 35,000 square foot facility, which allows the company to produce eight times its previous capacity. In the midst of all this computer-controlled machinery, is the company's decidedly old school flavor supervisor. “Moose Tracks” is about as wild as it gets for Ray Kralik who’s been at Pierre’s a looooooong time.
RAY KRALIK: I was 16. Almost 39 years ago.
Kralik's kind of like that guy at the hardware store that mixes a customized gallon of paint for you.
RAY KRALIK: “Butter Pecan…Strawberry…Vanilla…”
…and he adds these gallons of flavor to huge, stainless steel tanks of churning cream according to long-established guidelines.
RAY KRALIK: “We have set formulas, but I know them by heart.”
Last Christmas, Pierre's named a flavor in honor of Ray Kralik --- “Ray's Rootbeer Float” --- to celebrate his nearly forty years of institutional memory.
RAY KRALIK: “Ever since I started, I was treated good by Sol Roth, Shelley Roth. It's like a family.”
But, some “family” members had to leave, last year. Eight fulltime and three part time workers were cut, trimming the company workforce to 85. Sometimes, as Pierre’s has learned, job loss is the price of greater efficiency through technology…that and a long lousy economy.
SHELLEY ROTH: “This past recession has been the most difficult.”
Between population loss and the rising costs of ice cream ingredients, owner Shelley Roth says Pierre's local profit margins have been battered in recent years. The company is looking for the new facility to expand their capacity and their reach outside the region --- which means going up against the big boys.
SHELLEY ROTH: “Because we compete with many of the global conglomerates that now really own most of the brands in the supermarkets, it's very competitive. But, we still persevere, because we stick to our values…”
…even in the modern era, when the hot competition is between companies that are featuring new concoctions with names like "French Toast," “Strawberry Basil," and “Riesling Poached Pear.” Pierre's “bread and butter” is their good old French Vanilla. Roth says the company is currently in discussions with food industry officials in other countries who are interested in importing American ice cream --- American ice cream, with a French name.