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TASCA: So many businesses have obviously struggled during the shutdown in the last month and a half. How have you fared during that time?
GOGGIN: We’ve definitely had our good days and our bad days. We’ve adapted with to-go orders, curbside, and we now offer DoorDash, which is a great delivery service for people who are comfortable with ordering and having it brought right to their homes so they don’t have to go anywhere. They don’t have to worry about any safety concerns. It’s a contactless delivery.
With that being said, even though we’ve had our busy days, we’re definitely still seeing a massive decrease in sales. But we have some make and take events coming up to help keep our neighborhood kids active and doing some fun things like our tie-dye kits, which are going out this week.
TASCA: You mentioned the sundae kit birthday party that you just contributed to. Can you talk about that?
GOGGIN: We had a woman reach out to us whose daughter’s birthday was coming up. Obviously nowadays we can’t have our typical celebrations. So you’ve got to get creative. We ended up making sundae kits from this woman’s daughter’s friends. She picked them up and brought them to all of her daughter’s friends’ houses. Once they all had arrived, they ended up going on and having a Zoom birthday party and celebrated making ice cream sundaes.
It’s one of those things. You don’t want to miss these celebrations. We still need to be a part of it; make people smile, have some laughs. We all need that connection. It’s just a little different connection now. It gives us happiness and hope.
TASCA: Is it emotionally exhausting sometimes when you consider the peaks and the valleys over the last couple of months and the uncertainty of not knowing when things could potentially return to normal again?
GOGGIN: Absolutely. If I told you I didn’t ugly cry occasionally or every single day, I’d be lying. By the time I get up in the morning, I have two young children so I’m doing class with them online, as well as trying to keep two businesses, one that’s brand new, going. I have to (keep track) of all of my employees and their income coming in. That weighs on your shoulders.
By the time 12 o’clock rolls around and I’m saying “Time to go to bed,” I get upstairs to go to sleep and I just can’t fall asleep. The wheels are turning. It’s difficult. It’s hard.
TASCA: I was in here earlier today to get some cake batter ice cream. I don’t think I was in here for any more than five minutes and you received two phone calls. You took two orders over the phone. That’s very unusual for an ice cream parlor to take phone orders. What has that been like?
GOGGIN: It’s definitely been interesting to adapt to. To ask you your personal information, to ask for your credit card information and for you to trust us with it, yeah, that feels kind of awkward in the beginning!
We have a very small, but mighty staff that has grown over the years. They’re excited to be on the journey with us. They want us to be open as much as we want to be open. I would say they hit it out of the park.
TASCA: There aren’t many year-round ice cream parlors in New England. Ice cream is traditionally regarded as a summer indulgence. It would seem like your reputation here in the Westerly area has helped you persevere during this time. But is it something more? Do you think maybe there’s something about ice cream in particular that makes people feel good during times of uncertainty?
GOGGIN: I think that ice cream is most certainly more than just ice cream. If you look back at even your own life, there’s going to be a time in your life where you automatically have this memory that’s associated with ice cream.
My grandparents always had coffee ice cream in the freezer. I remember that. I was just little. Maybe I was five, but I remember having that ice cream. I’m sure every single person can go back on some sort of memory like that. We’ve had people come in to celebrate birthdays or some strange broken legs or first bike rides or after-theater cast parties. So I think it’s more about the memories that you’re making, not just necessarily the treat.
This time around, with everything that’s going on, I think that ice cream gives us a little sanity. It gives us a little happiness and excitement, especially for the kids. They’re not quite understanding why they can’t go to their friends’ house and play or why they’re not going to school. But when mom or dad get to bring them up, pull up front, and we get to come out with the ice cream cones, there’s that instant smile. It’s that “ah” moment, so it’s pretty cool to be a part of those. Ice cream makes us happy.
Joe Tasca can be reached at jtasca@ripr.org
