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Pav’s Creamery draws crowd even in winter
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: January 21, 2016
As winter arrives in northeast Ohio, some people may be planning a getaway to a warmer location or simply longing for spring.
If your business is ice cream, this time of year presents its challenges. Just ask Melody Pappas, co-owner of Pav’s Creamery in Green.
“Cold weather doesn’t always mix well with ice cream,” said Melody. “But when you deliver an outstanding product people will still come. Our store is toasty and warm and we have seating so people can stop by all year round.”
Coming up with creative new flavors is also a key component, she said. “People get bored with the same options. We always try and invent new ideas while maintaining our quality and price point. All our products are homemade and we are known for our huge scoops.”
During the holidays, the owners created their Christmas & Cream flavor made with peppermint Oreos and M&M’s white chocolate candy.
“We sold about 15 three-gallon tubs over a two-week period or 1,350 scoops,” said Nik Pappas, co-owner of the Green store. “I had a hard time finding the ingredients at the grocery store.”
Pav’s features a wide variety of frozen desserts at both its Green and Portage Lakes locations, including homemade hard ice cream, old-fashioned frozen Kustard, Kustard cakes, sorbets and frozen yogurt. In all there are 32 distinct flavors with seasonal favorites like pumpkin pecan pie, Christmas ginger cookie, mint chocolate chip along with their signature chocolate almond.
The company was first founded in the Portage Lakes in the early ‘50s as a Tastee Freez. But when Robert Pavlik bought the store in 1969 he gave it his nickname.
“When my grandparents Bill and Claire Micochero purchased the store from Mr. Pavlik in 1978, they decided to keep the name,” said Pappas. “In the ‘70s, the Portage Lakes location had a large food menu and it was more well known for its food than the ice cream.
“When my mom took over in 1991, she decided to ditch the food and focus on the ice cream.”
Today the Portage Lakes store on Manchester Road serves customers from March 1 through Nov. 1.
“Since my business is all window service, it does not make sense to stay open in the winter,” said Michelle Micochero. “My biggest challenge is staffing. I usually hire high school students and it can be tough to train them to be the type of employee that you want.
“Still, most of my kids do end up staying with until they graduate college.”
During the busy summer season, about 25 employees staff both locations.
Micochero said one of the positives of owning an ice cream store is that its “recession proof.
“When times are tough and people can’t go on vacation, they want to go somewhere and most people can still afford ice cream.”
The Green location opened its doors at 3875 Massillon Rd. in April after Nik and Melody Pappas bought the franchise from Micochero.
“Much of my family has been involved in the ice cream business,” said Pappas. “My aunt runs the Cherry Street Creamery in Canal Fulton and my uncle owns Fenik’s Frozen Custard in Avon Lake.”
A native of North Canton, Pappas moved to England to pursue a career in the hospitality industry in 2001. While working overseas, he met his wife Melody. The family returned to Akron in 2012.
“From that point onward, Melody and I submerged ourselves in the world of ice cream,” said Pappas. “Melody worked at the original location and spent two years learning the day-to-day operations before opening our own store in 2015.”
In addition to the large ice cream menu, patrons in Green can enjoy a variety of hot food items ranging from flatbread sandwiches and homemade pot pies to fried chicken and waffles.
“My wife and I lived in Sydney for several years and one of Australia’s ‘must have’ food items is their ‘Tiger’ pot pies. These consist of a beef pie topped with mashed potatoes, whipped peas and gravy. I was in love with it at first bite and when the opportunity came for us to add a food option to our menu, we both agreed that an Aussie-themed pot pie would be a perfect fit.”
The store also has a liquor license and the capacity to seat 65 people inside and a 2,000-square foot patio complete with a fire pit that can accommodate another 65.
Ice cream, kustard, kustard cakes, sorbet, frozen yogurt and gelato are made daily at both locations throughout the year, even after the Portage Lakes business stops serving customers.
“We use the same custard machines that were once used at Euclid Beach Park back in the early ‘20s,” said Pappas.
“I would say our kustard is what we are known for,” he said. “We have flavors for everyone. The older crowd likes the butter pecan, black cherry and pistachio. The younger crowd seems to favor flavors like Nutella S’Mores, peanut butter Oreo or blueberry cheesecake.”
Pappas said patrons generally prefer to order the sorbets in the summer and yogurts are “popular around New Year’s as people who want to watch their calories but don’t want to give up ice cream run to frozen yogurt.”
The sorbet is fat free and some of the most ordered flavors are lemon raspberry, blackberry Cabernet and strawberry Margarita, said Pappas.
“Our banana cream pie and banana pudding yogurts are customer favorites and our strawberry cheesecake does well too,” he said.
He said gelato is primarily sold to restaurants. “We tried selling gelato at our stores but it never really took off like I thought it would. In the end, we decided to only offer it to our wholesale customers.”
Pav’s also has a thriving wholesale business, with its ice cream and other frozen desserts distributed in five states—Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan and New York. Acme, Fishers Foods and Buehler’s Fresh Foods in Canton all carry their products.
Pav’s also supplies Gervasi Vineyard in Canton, The Twisted Olive Italian American Kitchen in Green, the Yum Yum Sweet Shop in Peninsula as well as Luigi’s Restaurant in Akron.
“My wife runs the day-to-day operations and I decided to focus on the wholesale side of our operations, which previously never existed,” said Pappas. “It was my job to find local restaurants, grocery stores, distributors and even other ice cream establishments who were looking for various flavors and desserts.”
Every Friday during the summer, Pappas brings food trucks from all over northeast Ohio to the Portage Lakes location.
“The truck features a different type of food every week and it allows people to go to Pav’s in Portage Lakes and get dinner and dessert.”
Pav’s does have a Facebook page and website and the owners also advertise in newspapers and on billboards, but Micochero said the bulk of the business is still from word of mouth.
The owners plan to add other locations in the future.
“I would be willing to sell another franchise to a non-family member,” said Micochero.
Pappas said he’s considering another family-owned location in either North Canton or Peninsula.
“We’ve gone back and forth on a couple locations in North Canton but never found one we truly loved,” he said. “There is a spot in Peninsula, which we love however we have to wait until the city installs a sewer system before we could ever proceed.”