The Scoop at What’s the Scoop

By Bob Cox

One of the best things about publishing this magazine, especially when the economy was floundering has been meeting and developing friendships with positive and inspiring local business owners. One of my favorite clients that has also become a friend is Faze Hayat, the owner of What’s the Scoop Ice Cream Parlor in East Sacramento. Whenever I drop by to visit with Faze, he’s almost always laughing and joking. On those rare occasions when he isn’t, it doesn’t take long for him to snap out of the doldrums.

I stopped by What’s the Scoop recently to get the scoop on how Faze and his wife Angel made it through the Great Recession to celebrate their businesses sixth anniversary this month.

Q: Why did you decide to open an ice cream shop?

A: We just wanted to bring something special to the area that it was missing. We noticed that there were mostly corporate chain ice cream stores in the area, so we decided to give people what they wanted. After a lot of taste testing, we figured out that people wanted Gunther's Ice Cream, which has been a landmark in Sacramento since 1940. The quality of the ice cream is great and it’s locally made. No matter how much things change, Gunther’s Ice Cream offers the nostalgia of good old fashion ice cream.

Q: What makes Gunther’s Ice Cream taste so great?

A: Gunther's uses a slow churn, hand-controlled method to process their ice cream, along with a higher percentage of butterfat cream and the finest ingredients available. This produces a richer and creamier ice cream. My wife Angel and I actually trained at the production facility and all the ice cream is made here in Sacramento.

Q: Can you tell us about some of the flavors that you have?

A: Sure, we have 47 different flavors of ice cream and a lot of them were made specifically for us. Our best seller ever is our Coffee Oreo. Our Taro flavor, which is actually a purple root from Taiwan, is our next best-seller. Our butter brickle is another favorite, with pieces of toffee, candy and roasted peanuts in a vanilla base.

Q: What other products do you offer?

A: We have bubble teas, which are the freshly brewed tees from our tea espresso machine. No one else in Sacramento has that. Our customers like it because they can customize their flavors and get a freshly brewed tea within 20 seconds. We have several non-dairy products on our menu, including our bubble teas, milk teas, slurpees and all our smoothies. We also offer Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches made with Gunther’s Ice Cream, real fruit freezes along with a large variety of handmade bon bons, nutty cones, clown cones, ice cream cakes and much more.

Q: What are the biggest challenges of owning a business?

A: Marketing. We have so many customers that still come in to the store and ask us if we are new to the area. We continue to rely on the word of mouth of customers to relay that “What’s the Scoop” serves Gunther’s Ice Cream in East Sacramento.

Q: What life experiences have helped you become confident enough to own your own business?

A: I come from a car background and I always had to deal with all different types of customers and learned how to be a chameleon and blend in with anyone at any place at any time. Also, my parents owned a tire and rim shop. My wife also came from a family of entrepreneurs that owned multiple businesses, so she understands the trials and tribulations that come with owning a small business.

Q: Were there people that doubted your ability to run a successful ice cream shop?

A: Yes, a lot of people with expertise in our field doubted us and we had to prove a lot of people wrong. This experience taught us to never go with what other people think about you. If you're doing something positive and you keep going for it, then you can achieve anything

Q: You’re always positive and upbeat every time I come see you. What do you do to keep that positive attitude?

A: I just look in the mirror (laughing).

Q: I hope they don’t see what we see (laughing)...I’m kidding! In all seriousness, do you have any suggestions to help people stay positive and motivated?

A: Yes, just keep CVS open and the hair color section alive (laughing). Seriously though, we do have two daughters (Ashley and Fyzah) and they are our biggest motivation. We’d like to see them be what they want to be. We don't push them into our business but they do see us working hard every day. They respect that and they actually want to come in and help out and learn the business. That reminds me of a quote: To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart.

Q: The best job I had in college was when I delivered flowers for a local florist because everybody was happy to see me. Has that been your experience owning an ice cream shop?

A: Yes because it's a treat. If someone comes through the door and they’re having a rough day, that always changes to a smile when they look up at our menu or when we talk and joke with them. We just make them feel like they're at home. Our motto is to smile and serve! You never know whose day you could make with a simple scoop of ice cream.

Q: Do you have any advice for the younger generation?

A: The biggest thing is just don't ever stay down if you fall down. You can accomplish whatever you want because nothing's out of reach. Follow the positive people, the people that support you. You can achieve your dreams, just make sure you stay positive and always keep a smile on your face. Look forward and not backwards!

Q: On a more serious note do people really scream for ice cream?

A: The kids do and they’ll scream at you too if you get it wrong (laughing)! Actually, they choose by the color of the ice cream! “I want the pink one” or “I want the purple one”. It’s so cute to see them get so excited about ice cream.

Q: Actually I saw one of your younger customers screaming when his ice cream fell off the cone and onto the sidewalk outside your store. When he came back in, you gave him a free scoop!

A: That's right (laughing). We will load them up for free, but most of the time there's a lot of people screaming because the ice cream is so good and it's a good experience.

Q: So is that the scoop at What's the Scoop?

A: That's the scoop at What's the Scoop (laughing)!

Editor’s notes: What’s the Scoop Ice Cream is located at 6350 Folsom Blvd., Suite 400 (at the Southwest corner of Folsom Blvd. and 65^th Street) in East Sacramento. Their phone number is (916) 370-7301 and their website is www.whatsthescoop.net.