STREETSBORO, Ohio – Few businesses can claim they are as family-run as Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard.
The Streetsboro eatery, which is marking its one-year anniversary Dec. 4, is a family affair for the Myers clan: Jim retired from a long career as an executive with Burger King and decided to jump in to operating a Rita’s. His wife, Karen, handles accounting, cleans and keeps things organized. Son Danny runs day-to-day operations. And son Jay handles marketing and IT.
“I basically come and make ice and do what I need to do,” Jim Myers said. “The family dynamics are great. You hear people say, ‘Be careful in getting into business with family.’ Not really. I can see that, but the difference is there are operators who just hand things over to their kids, and they really don’t work for it. … just because you are an operator and are good doesn’t mean your kids are.”
The site Rita’s is on had been vacant for 20 years, Jim Myers said.
Parking was limited, but he knew the traffic counts would provide a potential steady stream of customers.
“It’s been great,” he said of the location that previously had been a Checkers drive-in, a check-cashing business and a florist. “I don’t know why people were so afraid of it.”
He had garage doors installed, so during summer they roll them up and gain 38 seats outside.
The drive-through component is critical to business success, Jim Myers says.Marc Bona, cleveland.com
“There’s no other Rita’s like this in the country,” he said, saying the garage doors and drive-through access make it unique since most Rita’s are walk-ups. “They’re using this building as a prototype.”
Myers moved to Northeast Ohio in 1981 from his native Columbus. His wife’s uncle owned Burger Kings, and he worked for him. Myers eventually shifted to work for Burger King corporate for 41 years, running the North American operations with a focus on development and franchising before retiring a few years ago.
A former Burger King colleague, Linda Chadwick, is CEO of Rita’s. Myers looked at the opportunity and decided to try it. But he didn’t want to buy 10 and then find his family hated it. Rita’s has fewer than 600 locations in the country.
“It’s done very well for us,” he said.
Operating a food business takes a multifaceted approach. While Rita’s is closing in on its one-year anniversary, its success is due in part to supply and demand – after all, customers like the assorted ice flavors and mixes. But it’s a testament to understanding a business model and applying it with knowledge and passion.
Specifically, understanding a few traits is critical for success, as Myers sees it, in addition to basics like a product’s value.
Cleanliness and service
“We believe in QSC – quality, service and cleanliness. Add a ‘C’ onto that – which is even more important – which is consistency,” he said.
“That’s what people are looking for.”
Rita’s offers Italian ice, custard, blendinis and several other options and multiple flavors.Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Metrics
Metrics are key for keeping tabs on food costs and labor percentages – two necessary variables to constantly watch.
In addition, understanding inventory is imperative. In the case of the Streetsboro Rita’s, product delivery comes from Atlanta, and the family has to know exactly how much of the product is needed to make shipments worthwhile.
“If you are overproducing product for consumers who aren’t coming, you have to throw it away,” he said. “And you don’t want to underperform in terms of running out of stuff, because customers come in and they’re disappointed. That’s the balancing act.”
Challenges
Most Rita’s close two to three months a year. In the Southeast they can stay open all year.
“The hardest thing quite honestly in this business is the seasonality. If you understand the seasonality and you control it, it’s not going to be a problem,” he said.
“But what I’ve learned in Ohio – probably Michigan, too, and Indiana – just because it’s cold and it snows, people still like ice cream.”
Demographics
At Burger King, he said, 60% to 70% of the business goes through drive-through. Rita’s is at 60%.
“I would never do any business whether it was quick-service retail or whatever without a drive-through,” said Myers, who noted if it’s raining, people gravitate to drive-throughs. A parent doesn’t want to have to unhook a baby seat and get the kids out in the rain.
Rita’s is at 9292 Ohio 14 in Streetsboro.Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Marketing
Recently, a couple thousand kids came through a collective business trick-or-treat event in the area. Karen Myers, a retired teacher in Aurora, made Tootsie pops attached to free-ice coupons to pass out.
“You need to continually market your business,” Jim Myers said. “You can’t expect it just to happen on its own.”
It goes back to the QSCC mantra Myers believes drives the business.
“If people come in and you give them (lousy) service, or your product’s bad, they’re not coming back. You’ve just wasted that marketing dollar.”
A simple grassroots approach from the kids working in the eatery also goes a long way: Smiling.
“It’s not rocket science, it’s business. And it can get away from you pretty quick,” he said.
Efficiency
Like many culinary businesses, Rita’s instituted third-party app systems, and the drive-through and front-counter operations have segregated operations in back of house.
“That’s what’s important in this business – time and motion. It’s all about steps that you take. It’s really critical.”
The basics, of course, remain important – offering a product people love.
“No one has the Italian ice, and the kids love it,” he said.
Gelati and concrete are the top two sellers. They make Gelati by putting custard on the bottom, ice in the middle, and custard on top “so you get the best of both worlds,” Myers said. For concretes, customers can choose two toppings, then hot fudge is pumped and drilled right down into the mix.
They can vary flavors and styles, mixing all sorts of non-alcoholic drinks out of ice. Blending custard and ice yields a creamy ice flavor, for instance. And every week they change two flavors of custard. (Last week it was pistachio and strawberry-banana, and chocolate, vanilla and twist are constant.) They have 100-plus varieties of syrup, and an ordering guide shows customers how the specific items are made.
Customer base ranges from kids coming in after high school games to seniors who look forward to a sweet treat. And free samples are given for those who want to try something.
“People come to Rita’s generally happy,” said Myers, who added that often in the fast-food world, people rush in, grab their order and leave.
Dan and Jim Myers of Rita’s.Marc Bona, cleveland.com
Myers’ role is akin to being a hands-off general manager of a baseball team and letting his manager – in this case his son – run the team on the field. And that team includes 36 staffers. And they maintain a file full of applications.
“It’s his baby,” he said.
For his part, Dan has taken quickly to conquering the learning curve, having to navigate permits and other issues. Because the eatery is located on a state route (it’s at 9292 Ohio 14), he said you’re not allowed more than one curb cut for entrance and exit. They learned quickly their egress had to be amended.
“Having the kids here, working with them,” Dan said about the best parts of the job. “It’s kind of laid back. We’re making ice, listening to music, hanging out with the guests.”
They’ve taken baby steps with catering. They can bring five-gallon coolers of the product for 100 to 1,000 or more people. They offer retail takeout via a grab-and-go cooler. But at its core it’s a family business with defined roles.
“We do this together,” Jim Myers said.
His initial deal with Rita’s is to do two more locations.
“It’s a nice little family business that we plan on growing,” he said. “In the future, I can see us doing 10 to 20 of these.”
I cover restaurants, beer, wine and sports-related topics on our life and culture team. For my recent stories, here’s a cleveland.com directory. WTAM-1100’s Bill Wills and I talk food and drink around 8:20 a.m. Thursdays. Twitter and IG: @mbona30. My latest book, co-authored with Dan Murphy: “Joe Thomas: Not Your Average Joe” by Gray & Co.
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