43
California Handel’s grosses highest profit
Photo
Handel’s in Redondo Beach, Calif., on Two-Buck Tuesday. This Handel’s made more than $1 million in 2013 and is expected to make more in 2014.
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
In an area where the Youngstown-born and beloved ice cream franchise Handel’s is not known, location and promotion are key.
The product sells itself, but Paul Danylik does more than sell a product.
He has created a cult following of the now-beloved ice cream in Redondo Beach, Calif., which led his store to become the highest-grossing one in the Handel’s chain nationwide — that is out of 37 locations in seven states.
Last year, his location grossed more than $1 million in revenue, and he is looking to exceed that this year by 14 percent.
“We hear ‘It is the best ice cream I have ever had’ more often than any other comment,” Danylik said.
Danylik first heard of Handel’s from a friend’s wife. The Youngstown resident would always extol “how Handel’s was the best ice cream in the world.”
And then he tried it for himself about 20 years ago. Six years ago, he had the idea to open his own franchise in Redondo Beach. In June 2010, the Redondo Beach Handel’s on South Pacific Coast Highway opened its doors. Danylik started the business during the time of a recession. He knew from experience that comfort foods always prosper in those times.
“We have grown approximately 12 percent every year,” Danylik said.
The proximity to at least five schools helps his business in addition to being on a busy street.
Word of mouth and a popular campaign known as Two-Buck Tuesday, where customers at the Redondo Beach Handel’s can grab a cone for $2, helped to cultivate the following. During the height of the summer, Danylik was selling 2,400 cones on Tuesdays. The cones at the strip-mall Handel’s location typically are $3.25 for a single scoop.
“In four short years, now if you say ‘Handel’s ice cream,’ everyone knows it,” Danylik said.
The money months for Danylik’s Handel’s are the summer months — June, July and August.
The top flavor at Danylik’s location? It’s not Youngstown’s favorite, chocolate pecan. It’s banana cream pie.
A majority of the time, when Danylik asks his customers with a liking for chocolate pecan where they are from, they say Ohio.
“It is uncanny,” he said.
Lenny Fisher, head of Handel’s, said although the ice-cream product has a lot to do with Danylik’s success, so does his hard work and the location.
“It shows you that Handel’s is not only good locally,” Fisher said.
Two other Handel’s locations, one in Hermitage, Pa., and one in Las Vegas, are the next to open. Danylik also is discussing a second location of his own, Fisher said.
“I knew it would be great,” Fisher said of the Redondo Beach location. “There was nobody out there selling premium ice cream in that area.”