S06.E07: Snowdays NYC

[Whimsy]

Quote

The owner of an Asian-inspired shaved-cream shop expands his business before perfecting his concept; now, his company is on the verge of bankruptcy. Marcus tries to push him to change his concept and let go of the manufacturing process. 

 

[Whimsy]

I know I’m not a business person, but I don’t understand why Marcus was so against taking an Asian inspired dessert and adding Western flavors. It’s kess calories. You’d think that would be the draw. I personally didn’t like the fact that they brought in so many products from other vendors, but again, what do I know.  I am glad that Mr. Green Tea brought some cold hard truth bombs to the episode, though. 

[Showthyme]

This was one of the better episodes. Green Tea provided valuable information and the changes made sense.

The name should have been changed. Ski apparel comes to mind when I see Snowdays. 

[Whimsy]

2 hours ago, Showthyme said:

This was one of the better episodes. Green Tea provided valuable information and the changes made sense.

The name should have been changed. Ski apparel comes to mind when I see Snowdays. 

I agree. I fully expected a name change and was surprised it didn’t. 

[Gregg247]

This was a good episode to show how a person can have a great idea for a store, yet still fail in the execution.  Marcus gave some really good advice this time.  Having Mr. Green Tea take over the manufacturing of the shaved cream will make a massive difference to the bottom line, as well as to the owner's time and effort (he was traveling an hour and a half each way several times a week in order to make the shaved creme himself!).  Leaning in to the Asian-inspired flavors will also help to increase business due to the branding identity as "that Asian dessert place".

I know bringing in all those other Asian candies and sweets made a lot of sense, but, to be honest, the cartoon-y packaging of all that stuff is a real turn-off for me.  It makes everything look as appetizing as cotton candy.  Yuck!  That stuff may be the best tasting sweets in the world, but it looked too kiddie for me.  (Hey, I wonder if Sweet Pete's could start an Asian candy line?!?)

When the employee was "quitting", it looked like both guys were about to crack up laughing.  I don't know if it was because they were just really emotional and nervous (quitting your job on camera will do that to you) or if that conversation had happened earlier (when cameras weren't rolling) and they were asked to recreate the scene for the crew and for Marcus, who "just happened" to drop by right then.  Either way, it seemed fake.

[Kenz]

I liked this episode, but it's always frustrating when they gloss over details, like breaking leases for three other locations which were performing poorly. It is not easy to break a lease. Was the 300K that Marcus put up part of the cost of reimbursing landlords in some way? 

[atlantaloves]

That was a good episode, but who can afford 10.00 for shaved creme, not this lady. Love you Marcus! 

[LennieBriscoe]

Mmm-MMMM!

And by that I mean Young Master Green Tea! 😍

[atlantaloves]

Mr. Green Tea Jr. set the new guy straight on FDA regulation didn't he? Jesus, the guy was using used plastic molds for God's sake. What an idiot.  I am so glad Green Tea is doing well...that was a great episode which I had no hope for with that kid....he grew up fast.🌿

[Amarsir]

6 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

I know bringing in all those other Asian candies and sweets made a lot of sense, but, to be honest, the cartoon-y packaging of all that stuff is a real turn-off for me.  It makes everything look as appetizing as cotton candy.  Yuck!  That stuff may be the best tasting sweets in the world, but it looked too kiddie for me.

I like to go into Asian markets and restaurants that have little product sections, and to me it often appears as "Here's literally anything we could think of to add in hopes you buy it." Which is exactly what Marcus did. Now to be fair this is stage 1 of a two step process. First try lots of stuff, then rotate out the losers and focus on the winners. But the problem of too many things with rainbow cloud packing and whatever else is going on is that it doesn't compel me to try any of them.

(And it doesn't help that I can't read the language. That's on me and presumably not a problem for many of their customers.)

What I'm saying is that if I see Doritos, pretzels, and a strange green bag that says "cucumber potato chips" on it, I'm going to go for that third one because it sounds interesting. But in a different context, without those first two and just cucumber potato chips and shrimp puffs and dried plums I'm probably not going to try any of it because it's not appearing to me in a familiar context. I don't mean to suggest that they need to Americanize. I'm just saying it's easier to buy something new if there's at least some familiarity rather than if it's a completely foreign experience.

[LuvMyShows]

2 hours ago, Amarsir said:

What I'm saying is that if I see Doritos, pretzels, and a strange green bag that says "cucumber potato chips" on it, I'm going to go for that third one because it sounds interesting. But in a different context, without those first two and just cucumber potato chips and shrimp puffs and dried plums I'm probably not going to try any of it because it's not appearing to me in a familiar context. I don't mean to suggest that they need to Americanize. I'm just saying it's easier to buy something new if there's at least some familiarity rather than if it's a completely foreign experience.

That's what I thought they were doing by carrying the products in the first place, for people who already have the familiarity with the products.

8 hours ago, Kenz said:

I liked this episode, but it's always frustrating when they gloss over details, like breaking leases for three other locations which were performing poorly. 

Yes, I wondered about that, given that Marcus gave only a 60-day timeframe.

8 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

This was a good episode to show how a person can have a great idea for a store, yet still fail in the execution. 

I continue to be amazed at how many small business owners have businesses that are completely failing and losing tons of money, yet no thought or plan about how to turn it around, and they just keep on going the same way with their head in the sand.  Closing the other stores sure seemed like a no-brainer.  But I guess that involves facing the music and swallowing your pride.  Still, when your entire livelihood is on the line, you'd think these people would open their eyes and take the necessary action.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Didn't the owner say something about his family owning one of the other location buildings?   According to the Profit Update site, they're reopening another location in March or so, with the same design and menu, so maybe the other locations will be redone and reopened also.  

[Moose135]

7 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Didn't the owner say something about his family owning one of the other location buildings?

Yes, the production facility was in a building his family owned.

[guilfoyleatpp]

I couldn't tell if Ovie was incredibly uncomfortable or if it was completely staged. Probably both.

They were both smirking. 

At any rate, I'm a big fan of local/culturally inspired desert flavors. I would think that any big city has residents like me, and I'm not a hipster. 

One of my biggest ongoing searches is for zuppa inglese gelato. I had it all over Italy and I love it. It's like this meta English inspired Italian desert. I've never found it in the US. When I do, I will be loyal to that store forever. 

[seacliffsal]

I hope this business becomes very successful.  The owner and employees all seemed to be willing to work hard and follow Marcus' plans.  And the product looked delicious to me.

[ae2]

Thinking back on this episode, I find it funny that Marcus worked hard to convince the guy to use a co-packer (Mr. Green Tea) for their ice cream, when a major plot point of the first Mr. Green Tea episode was moving them away from a co-packer into their own facility.

Situations and business were different obviously, but amusing to watch them back to back.

[silverspoons]

I was torn a bit about this episode. My kids love everything Japanese, they both speak Japanese, watch Japanese tv and love all the candy and treats. Try buying Japanese items and living in Utah , there is one store 310 miles away! and online the shipping is expensive or lengthy.  I was disappointed that Marcus did not want the American flavors. My kids and their friends would run to that store for all the candy and drinks but they would not want Green tea shaved ice. I also wonder how well the candy and treats would sell in NYC, where you can go to an Asian market nearby and buy the same items for less? If you put this type of store outside of a major city I totally see the appeal. The prices were just so high for having the same items down the street.

I also am torn or wondering how others feel about Marcus using all his other business to help his new ones? So Marcus gets 50% of this guys shaved ice business and gives him 300k, and then part of that 300k goes to Marcus' sign company to make signs, to  Marcus company Mr. Green tea to make the products, so Marcus is making money off the money he invested or saves companies he invested in from going under by giving them jobs with companies he invests in. So the guy closes 3 locations and keeps one. I have read that in other businesses the original owner gets to keep the locations open during the deal and the new ones Marcus gets?

[CrazyInAlabama]

From the update article I read, at least one other location is being upgraded to the new design and inventory, and maybe the other outlets will be reopened too.