Back from His Calgary trip, Al heads down to the “Honeymoon Capital of the World” Niagara Falls to visit Andrew Vergalito, owner of Italian Ice Cream. The business was opened by Andrew’s parents Joe and Anna in 1978 and for 46 years they’ve been serving the locals and tourists alike. There have been many challenges and changes to the area in their almost half-century of business. This is their story.
Yes, Italian Ice Cream Is Open!
Back from His Calgary trip, Al heads down to the “Honeymoon Capital of the World” Niagara Falls to visit Andrew Vergalito, owner of Italian Ice Cream. The business was opened by Andrew’s parents Joe and Anna in 1978 and for 46 years they’ve been serving the locals and tourists alike.
There have been many challenges and changes to the area in their almost half-century of business. This is their story.
You can learn more about Italian Ice Cream at italianicecream.ca.
Allan: [00:00:00] Hello everyone, I'm Al Grego, and this is the Yes We Are Open podcast.
As you can probably tell, that is not the sound of Bigfoot. Today, I'm back in Ontario with my trusty old Kia. Bigfoot and I will always have Calgary. Kia and I just arrived in Niagara Falls, also known as 'The Honeymoon Capital of the World', located on the western bank of the Niagara River, about 130 kilometers from Toronto, around Lake Ontario's western shore.
The first account of a European discovering the falls goes back as early as 1604, when French [00:01:00] explorer Samuel de Champlain visited the area and members of his party described spectacular waterfalls during their exploration. 200 years later, tourism became the main industry in the area, and it quickly became a popular destination for honeymooners.
The area, initially known as Township No. 2 in 1782, went known by many other names, including Mount Dorchester, then Stamford in 1791, then Clifton in 1856, before finally becoming the village of Niagara Falls in 1881, and then incorporating as the city of Niagara Falls in 1904. With a plentiful and inexpensive source of hydroelectric power from the waterfalls, Niagara Falls became home to many electrochemical and electrometallurgical industries in the mid 20th century.
But due to economic recession, industry began moving out of the area in the 70s and 80s, leaving tourism as the city's most important revenue source. Although hydroelectricity is still a big deal in the [00:02:00] area, Niagara Falls provides a quarter of all power used in both New York State and Ontario. But again, Tourism is the main game.
On the Canadian side, there are two casinos, hotels, restaurants, museums, amusement rides and attractions, and so, so much more. The majority of it concentrated on Clifton Hill, one of the major tourist promenades of the city. Niagara Falls knows what it is, a tourist destination hosting over 12 million visitors each year.
Yet, There are also 94,000 residents who live mostly away from the craziness of Clifton Hill and go about their lives normally. And their businesses, while tourist adjacent, also rely on the locals to keep their doors open. Today I'm visiting one of those businesses, just on the edge of local and the hustle and bustle of Niagara Falls the attraction.
It's a family run business that's been going on for over 45 years. That business is Italian Ice Cream.[00:03:00]
I parked across the road from the Skyline Hotel. Just beyond I can see Casino Niagara and a water park. I'm walking away from the touristy looking buildings along Victoria Avenue towards what appears to be a more local area. There are still restaurants, but there's also a park and beyond that houses. I approach a building on my right with a patio with tables and umbrellas.
It's a nice sunny day, so there are some people sitting out on that patio drinking coffee and chatting. I walk into the building, and there are a few more tables and some patrons sitting and having a coffee in there. It is late morning after all. To my left is a large glass display with a bunch of different flavours of ice cream.
Beyond that is a coffee bar, and a worker busily making espressos. Just beyond the bar are some stairs leading up to a higher level and some more seating. That's where I meet Andrew, the owner.[00:04:00]
This area is empty, so we pick a table in the corner and sit for our interview.
Andrew: Hi, my name is Andrew Vergolito. I'm the owner and operator of Italian Ice Cream. We established in 1978. My parents, Joe and Anna, started with just the thought of having something to for the summertime, which developed over the years to what we are today.
Allan: Were your parents first generation Canadian?
Andrew: They were born in Italy, moved to, actually my mother came here. In her teenage years, worked. My father from Italy, moved to South America from South America, came here and married my mom. They actually met through pictures.
Allan: Oh?
Andrew: He was in South America and my mother was here in Niagara. A mutual friend brought them together through pictures. They started writing letters, you know, they got married through proxy. Yeah. And [00:05:00] then they, yeah, there was, uh,
Allan: Original online dating!
Andrew: It was a thought my father had saw that there was something lacking in the Niagara area. I had a uncle and aunt in Toronto that had a similar place on St. Clair. And It was something that he liked to do. And it was something for Italians to go to have espresso, have some products. And back then in the seventies and the early eighties, getting Italian products wasn't as easy as it is today.
Allan: In terms of italian population, what was it like here in Niagara Falls?
Andrew: There was actually, yeah, there was, I'd say about 30 percent were Italians or, yeah, there was quite a bit, like just when Italy won the cup in 82, okay, this street was all blocked off. So, we had people everywhere.
When they reopened up, I was eight years old.
Allan: Oh, you were eight, okay.
Andrew: Yeah.
Allan: What was [00:06:00] it like growing up in Niagara Falls?
Andrew: It was fun. Okay, I'll be honest with you. Growing up, we had, at the time, Maple Leaf Village, which was a scaled down amusement, like a Canada's Wonderland, but very scaled down. You know, it was, uh, especially growing up here.
Here is like the middle of both worlds. You turn left, you're in the tourist area. You turn right, and you're in the local residential areas. I saw both. So, you know, people that, you know, lived on the other side of Niagara, didn't see the tourism like I saw the traffic, you know, when long weekends came, I couldn't get in or get out of my driveway because it was bumper to bumper.
Seeing the bridge backed up for hours, you know, unless you were here in that area, you wouldn't see that. And the biggest tourist sector was the Americans. It always has been. So you saw in the summertime, all Americans. And for us, we had a lot of American clientele that come and then. We would get also European tourists.
So we'd get, you know, the [00:07:00] Spanish, the Italians coming on their tour and they would be doing a bus tour and this was one of their stops.
Allan: Right now it's a year-round, especially with all the casinos and stuff. But back then, was it much busier in the summer and was winter a little quieter?
Andrew: In winter they would joke that the streets would close up, the sidewalks would roll up and, you know, there was nothing. Like, Clifton Hill, the tourist area, they were closed in the wintertime. There was nothing going on. And now, because of things like the casino, I've brought year round business. I remember when the casino first opened up, we started seeing people on weekends in the winter. You know, growing up, you never wanted to be working for your parents. You just, you wanted to do other things.
I worked in restaurants, um I actually had my own place in Sherkston for a summer. I worked at the border customs as a student. Yeah, I've even worked in construction for [00:08:00] a season too.
Allan: So you really fought against working in the family business.
Andrew: Yeah, you know, as I got older, as my parents got older and I saw that they needed more help and it slowly progressed to that. You look back and you're like, okay, what happened? Yeah, and then what really. Triggered everything was my father passed away.
Allan: You said that happened in
Andrew: 1994.
He passed away and he was sick during the summer. So I had to really work and take care of, um, here. And, and I did it with my sisters, a family, like everyone pitched in.
Allan: How many sister do you have?
Andrew: Two sisters,
Allan: three, three siblings total?
Andrew: Yeah. And then I had my brother in law's both brother in laws and then they had kids they all worked and everything. And during that time was the hardest because it was a decision. We're going to keep the family business going or [00:09:00] sell it and get rid of it. And there was just too much history here.
Allan: Was this always the location?
Andrew: This was always the location. This originally, this street was all houses.
The original building was built in 1909 and it was at the time from history that I found houses were doctors and lawyers and it was because there were bigger houses became boarding house over the years and everything that we purchased. My father purchased in 75. He just, once he decided, basically he ripped down the porch and added on.
Allan: Right. So you're nice and close here to the casino and to some motels and stuff. So you get a lot of walk and bike traffic.
Andrew: Just close enough and just far enough.
Allan: From all the noise.
Andrew: Yeah, it's a sweet spot. And it's, and that's changing also.
Allan: Sure.
Andrew: Now with Google, you know, technology, people can find other spots.
Allan: Right.
Andrew: It was harder before. Because once they were in that trap of the tourism, they couldn't see outside of that.
Allan: Let's talk about like what services you provide. [00:10:00] Like your cafe, so you've got coffee, obviously, espressos and all that kind of stuff, and ice cream.
Andrew: Yep, we make gelato. We make it all here.
Allan: You make it?
Andrew: Yeah, from scratch. Yeah, that's what I do. I spend most of my time doing that. I actually sell to other places. I'm licensed to do that under the Ontario government.
Allan: So how did you learn to do that?
Andrew: It was something my father only did, and when my father got sick that year, I had to learn trial and error. But I had an uncle who did it for years, my uncle Sorvino in Toronto, and he had a stroke too. So he wasn't able to work. So he came down and gave me some pointers, which really helped me, not having my father to take me through it.
And then over the years. I've done some courses, I've worked with some different chefs in the area. I customize flavors for them. I went to Italy to do some things. I'm always trying [00:11:00] to learn more about the whole industry and everything like that.
Allan: Your coffee is imported from Italy?
Andrew: No, no, it's roasted actually in Toronto area. Rufino, excellent coffee. Consistent. Been using them over 10, 12 years. I don't even know. People don't realize. The science behind what goes into making a great consistent coffee, humidity and temperature plays a big role because of the oils, the way the coffee is roasted, the darker roast and the type of beans, what temperature you're brewing your espresso. You know, getting the cream on top and the grind and maintaining your machine. There's so many things and we can have a bad day with coffee, but I hear from my customers, you know, so I got to look, I got to clean, I clean the machine, adjust, make sure, test and try it and way to go.
Allan: So you take it pretty seriously?
Andrew: Yeah. The gelato. [00:12:00] The service, our coffee, it's no different. If you went to a, any family run restaurant, where they're making their own, they take pride in their thing. If you said their meal or whatever they produced for you was subpar, that would hurt them, they would, it was like, well, what's wrong with it? And they would try to fix it.
We take pride, like everything we do, we make sure we're making, using the best ingredients. You know, like our coffee too, we just don't have regular espresso. We make sure it's great espresso. Our machine, it's got to be not just a regular machine. It's got to be a consistent, it's got to be a good machine. I, we have the right tools. It makes the job easier.
Allan: sure. Andrew definitely has the right tools. My espresso was perfect. Up next? Since Andrew took over the family business in the early 90s, the cafe has enjoyed many ups and downs, as would any business this close to a tourist hotspot like Niagara Falls. But what has been his biggest challenge? Stay tuned to find out.[00:13:00]
You're listening to Yes, We Are Open. Andrew Vergolito's family business, Italian Ice Cream, opened in 1978 and has served the Italian and adjacent communities of Niagara Falls for almost 46 years. After his father's passing in 1994, Andrew stepped in to keep his legacy alive and continue the business.
Now, 30 years later, Andrew has seen many changes in the area and endured many struggles. How has he fared? Let's find out. You opened in 78, we're talking what? \
Andrew: June will be 46 years.
Allan: 46 years open.
Andrew: Yeah.
Allan: That's a long time.
Andrew: Yep.
Allan: And like you mentioned about struggle, like your family's always something, or whatever, anything that affects tourism. What has been your biggest struggle in the last 46 years?
Andrew: Well, there's been a few. I think the most trying times was going through COVID. Sure. Trying to figure that out. Mhm. It [00:14:00] wasn't a terrible time, but it was like your face was some situations where you had to like Act fast and change and do something to survive. And it hit in March, I'll never forget it. I was doing a delivery to a restaurant and I was watching them closing up everything. I didn't realize it. They started closing up things. I was still going about my work and I said, Oh, you're here today. Yeah. As of today we're closed. I'm like, really? You want me to take this product back?
And then from there it was like, I had the wholesale part of the business that just ended right then and there. There was just like half of the business gone. And then we had to go with what, you know, as these government regulations came in, you know, we dealt with them. You had to be a little bit flexible.[00:15:00]
I took it day by day. I was looking at different things at the time. I'll tell you the truth. I try to keep busy. I work myself, so I laid everyone off. Then when the government incentives come in to bring people back, I tried to bring, I didn't want to lose my good employees. I brought them back to work when I could, because that helped.
I did a lot of stuff myself. I changed, I added some things for it. I actually did renovations during that time.
I took advantage. I started working, cleaning things, moving this. I did all that that kept me busy and I didn't think about it.
Dietary trends was another big, Sherbert's can have milk in them. Ours are a hundred percent dairy free, vegan based. And a lot of our gelato, all the stabilizers are plant based. Our base is gluten free the only time there's any gluten, which is a big issue [00:16:00] is when there's a cookie in there. We're peanut free and all our products that we bring in are peanut free because of allergies.
So that has been another thing for us is adapting to some of the, uh, dietary allergies and actually learning along the way. Like I, until like maybe 15 years ago, I never knew what a celiac was. And I had to learn what people have allergies to corn and the dextrose, you know, that you could use. What you can't use and people allergic to, especially when they're going through some treatments, medical treatments, some things that they can use and not use.
I get asked quite a bit about, is there gelatin? And if so, is it plant based or is it animal based? Ours is plant based and there's no gelatin in it. It's just stabilizers and emulsifiers from plants.
Since COVID happened. [00:17:00] The world changed. It got to the point where these suppliers or distributors didn't care what things they did just automatically change their prices, sugar, cocoa. We had problems finding stuff, getting things, boxes, paper products, because paper mills shut down. I had problems getting boxes that I put my products in.
Shipments were slower. Like my suppliers would tell me. Four to six weeks, they would get the stuff. It was taking them up to four or five months. What I did is instead of having one supplier for cocoa or sugar, I found ways to find two or three. So I would go from one to the other and I would. Keep more things. It was difficult because we didn't know what business was going to be like, and it wasn't like you had this magic book that says, okay, during COVID, this is what your sales are going to be. You had nothing. You were going blind. So you didn't want to order too much things and you didn't want to order too little.[00:18:00]
So you kept ordering to keep things up. Business was good during the pandemic and anybody who adapted to the pandemic was able, they trimmed a lot of fat.
Allan: right?
Andrew: You know, I had specific hours, this, this, this, it, I had my phone call forwarded to my cell, the store phone. So if someone did call to pick up something, I was able to do something else.
I had more time actually was able to spend time with my family more right at the beginning of. COVID, the year before COVID happened, my daughter was born. So it was during the best time was I had, I was able to spend the clients that we have, the customers we have, we've known for years, they were very loyal.
They came, you know, if we had to change something or adapt. They went with you, you know, and we tried to accommodate as much as possible. We brought stuff to the cars. I was even doing deliveries that during that time, just bring it to the house, whatever they needed. I was trying to do. They were very good.
Did we make mistakes and everything during these trial period? Yeah. Many.[00:19:00]
I initially had another company doing my debit credit, and I kept on having issues. Went to Moneris, and everything was great. Along the way, you get all these companies, we get companies calling, we're gonna do cheaper, we're gonna do cheaper, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that. Made the mistake, and I say it now, switched.
I think it lasted two years or less. I called Moneris back And we've been with them ever since we never had any issues. And if anything did arise, they fixed it, adjusted it. When COVID hit, I had a wired machine and that's what it was just what it was. And it was like, okay, what can I do? And I was going through, cause it was changing.
So I was like, okay, we're going to start an online. What services do you have? Well, we can give you the gateway to do it. And with my web provider working with Moneris bang, put it in seamless. And then as we [00:20:00] started seeing this opening closing scenarios happen and people weren't coming into the stores yet, they were staying in their car.
So what did we do again, called up Moneris, my rep, and literally it was, here's my situation. Here's my question. And they would say, here are your solutions. And literally within a week, everything's up and running.
Allan: Coming up after the break, we find out what the future holds for Italian ice cream.
Cass: Success in business doesn't come without moments of struggle. Moments when you had to face your challenges head on. As the proud partner of Canadian business, Moneris plays a critical role in empowering businesses with the payment processing tools they need to succeed.
Together, we are building stronger businesses, where business owners everywhere can stand up to their challenges without slowing down. Moneris. Proud partner of Canadian business.
Allan: Welcome [00:21:00] back to Yes, We Are Open. For 46 years, Italian Ice Cream has been a fixture in Niagara Falls for both locals and visitors alike. And Andrew Virgilito has continued in his father's footsteps at the helm, steering the family business to success. So what does the future hold for Italian ice cream? Let's find out.
You mentioned your daughter was born just before the pandemic?
Andrew: Yes, 2018.
Allan: So she's five years old now?
Andrew: Yes, exactly.
Allan: All right. I mean, is this something where you hope one day maybe she'll take an interest and want to take over the business?
Andrew: My philosophy is if this is something she would love to do, I'd be more than happy for her to do but it'd be something that I would want her to choose.
Allan: Like you did, because you, lord knows, you tried every other career.
Andrew: I did, I did, and I actually, you know, there were so many things. I probably could have had an easier time going through those other things. You know, we don't know what life would have been if you just made a left turn instead of a right.
And I don't look back. I don't regret [00:22:00] anything I did. But yeah, that's, you have to have the passion for the business to be here. Anything you do in life, if you don't, it's just going to be a miserable time. And that's one thing I would hope if she does decide that she would want to do this and great, I'd do it with open arms. Like, okay, make this better, make it easier for yourself.
Allan: Looking back at the last 46 years of business to which your dad started and what you've been building, how do you feel?
Andrew: I feel good and I know my dad would have been happy and proud because he always wanted the business to continue and seeing how it evolved.
My mom passed away two years ago and she knew what my dad wanted, seeing the things that he Business has gone through and everything like that, like having the values, the core values of the business stay the same and the next generation, what it may be keeping those values at the core of the business would make me proud.
You know, if it's my daughter, if it's another family member taking over or whatever have you, it's just that [00:23:00] success. Every generation. Has to fine tune it to their era.
I keep my mind open. I don't know what's going to happen in another year with business. Could I split the two companies and have like a factory? Possibly. Could I open up more locations? Those are possibilities. There are so many things. We're always evolving, and I don't know what's going to happen when.
All I know is, as long as I'm enjoying doing this, I'm going to keep on evolving, keep on doing things, and putting smiles on people's faces, you know? There's a satisfaction seeing people enjoying your product and having a good experience. You see that it makes you feel good. You know, the money that you're making, that's why you're in business and everything like that. But seeing that is a satisfaction in itself. That's something that you get, that's your reward.[00:24:00]
Allan: Hey Andrew, is Italian ice cream open?
Andrew: Yes, we're open!
Allan: Perfect. That's it. That's it.
That's the story of Italian ice cream. I think one of the most important businesses in any neighborhood that makes it feel like a real neighborhood is the cafe or coffee shop. Sadly, there isn't one nearby in my neighborhood.
And here's why it's sad. Whenever I go to Portugal on vacation, one of my favorite things to experience there is the coffee culture. It's not unusual for people to go to the cafe four to six times a day. It's just part of the routine there. Their day is built around it. And it's not necessarily for the coffee. Don't tell Andrew I said that. It's for the social interaction. And it's the same around most of Europe. When I'm on vacation, I can consume on average four to six espressos each day. Which is probably not a good thing, but hey, when in [00:25:00] Rome, or in my case Lisbon, you do as the locals do.
Here at home, I've gotten the amount of coffee I consume down to two per day. One first thing in the morning, and one after lunch. And that's usually alone when I first get up, or at my desk. And none of them nearly as good as the espressos I had at Italian Ice Cream. Sad, I know.
Visiting Andrew's business brings me back to that cafe culture. Where people gather, sit, talk about the day, the news, or last night's game. I fear we're moving away from that too much as a society, becoming too insular. That's why I love that places like Italian Ice Cream still exist and are still such vital parts of their community. It bodes well for the future.
As for Andrew and his family business, as long as he pours as much care and love into his business as he does into his espressos or his gelatos, which I tried and they were amazing. The future of Italian ice cream is bright indeed.
Yes, We Are Open is a Moneris podcast [00:26:00] production. I'd like to thank Andrew for taking time to share his story. You can learn more about Italian Ice Cream at italianicecream.ca. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @italianicecream and on Pinterest. They're @italianicec1437.
Please support this podcast by writing us a review on Apple podcasts or rate us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts if your Canadian small business owner, or no one with an interesting story of perseverance to tell, I'd love to help tell it. You can contact me at podcast@moneris.com.
Tune in next week for another story of small business struggle and survival on the Yes, We Are Open podcast.
I'm Al Grego. Thank you for listening.