Eyes ofHistory - The North Star Monthly

Here’s the scoop
»This icy business is on fire and the Wilsons are
just trying to keep up
BY JUSTIN LAVELY
Years ago, there was a television
commercial that presented a
group of new entrepreneurs
tracking sales on a computer screen.
When the very simple counter clicked
over to one, they started celebrating and
congratulating. When it started to flip
faster than they could read, they looked
shocked. One member turned to the
other and said, “We need to expand.”
The owners of Slick’s Ice Cream are in a similar
situation. The wholesale side of their business,
which opened three years ago, is growing, but their
In the late 60s and 70s, my mother could take
the whole family out for ice cream and spend
less than &10. Times are tough now, so my plan
was to give people a good product at a fair price.
new retail stand on Route 302 in Woodsville is
soaring. In some cases, sales have increased tenfold
since the stand opened last July in a former
antique shop. On summer nights, the traffic along
the route forms a bottleneck thanks to lines of
parked cars on both sides of the road. The atmosphere
is friendly and the ice cream is top
notch.
The primary owner, Michael Wilson, a tall middle-aged
man, talks to us in his ice cream stand at
9 am on a Friday. He explains that later on, he will
be joined in the stand by his wife and three sons as
the family tries to keep up with the hundreds who
will stop for a taste. As he’s talking, at least one car
pulls into the parking lot and is saddened by the
“closed” sign on the front of the building.
“If they had come to the window, I would have
gotten them something,” Wilson says.
There is no secret ingredient to Slick’s recipe, at
least not in terms of food. Michael believes people
are simply attracted to local businesses making
local products and phenomenal customer service.
Slick’s products may have unique names like
“Starry Night,” “Bite this” and “Mounds,” or familiar
names like “Grandma’s Apple Pie,” but
stopping at the stand produces a very familiar and
comfortable feeling.
The names and flavors are a far cry from three
years ago, when with the help of a friend, Wilson
made his first batch of vanilla ice cream. It was
nothing special, but a seed was planted. A small
business loan from Northern Community Invest-
ment Corporation in St. Johnsbury helped the endeavor
sprout and Slick’s, named after the family’s
pug, was on a path to notoriety. Slick’s now has
more than 30 flavors to offer with prices from
$1.50 to $3.50.
“In the late 60s and 70s, my mother could take
the whole family out for ice cream and spend less
than $10,” Wilson says. “Times are tough now, so
my plan was to give people a good product at a fair
price.”
Last summer, Wilson, who partners with his
two brothers-in-law, said the family would get excited
about a $100 day, and now the ice cream
stand brings in more than $1,000 a day on the
weekends. Wilson takes nothing for granted as he
points to the first dollar ever earned by the business
hanging on the wall.
During the interview, Wilson stops to field a
call from his wife. She tells him he needs to find
time to come home and start making ice cream before
the stand opens for the night. He shakes his
head as he hangs up the phone as if to say, “Just
another day.”
Slick’s growing popularity has been very rewarding
for Michael and his family.
“It’s been all word of mouth,” according to
Wilson who also emphasized his great location on
a major state highway. People from Chicago are
stopping by and telling Wilson they heard about
his place from a friend.
Wilson emphasizes to his employees the im-
>> Page 6
www.northstarmonthly.com SEPTEMBER 2009 5
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Poetry.......................................Tuesday, Sept. 22, 7:00 p.m.
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