By Tracy Wang
Have you ever imagined getting a science class in an ice cream shop? Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt, an ice cream shop that freezes its ice creams using liquid nitrogen, has been enchanting its customers since 2011 with great ice creams and fun experiences of watching their ice creams freeze right in front of them in Federal Way. The only location in the state of Washington, Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt at Federal Way continues to draw customers from all over the state, and build relationships with its many returning customers.
Attracted to the idea of ‘customizable food’ and with a background in chemistry, Jerry Hancock, co-founder of Sub Zero Ice Cream, used liquid nitrogen to create a new way of freezing ice cream, and they opened their first store in 2004. Jack, the owner of the Federal Way store, first heard of Sub Zero Ice Cream from his family who had tried this ice cream in Idaho. Curious and amazed by this franchise, Jack did his research, and in 2011, he opened his very first Sub Zero in Federal Way, his home for 33 years.
When he was looking for a location to open his Sub Zero, Jack had toured to many possible locations in the state of Washington, but had unfortunately received a lot of rejections to his proposal. A long-time residence in Federal Way, he finally decided to open one that is only 3 miles from his home. Since he is deeply involved in the community of Federal Way, he ’knew there would be a warm market’, and as he predicted, ’right away, the marketing would be easier because I know so many people’.
The lack of experience and knowledge of Sub Zero Ice Cream, when it first opened, had the store welcome many customers of all ages who were curious of liquid nitrogen ice cream, though the ‘single largest demographics would be the millennials’. The amount of customers grow steadily over the years, and as they celebrated its six-year-and-a-half birthday recently, they are already a well-established ice cream shop in this state, attracting people to drive fifty miles to come and try its unique ice creams.
Completely different from all the other ice cream shops, Sub Zero Ice Cream sets out to cater to every customer who has a variety of dietary restrictions and tastes. At Sub Zero, all the customers can first choose from either the menu of sensations (flavors designed by Sub Zero) or creating their very own ice creams (size, cream, flavor, mix-ins). To offer everyone an ice cream experience, they let the customers choose the cream, whether it’s low-fat, custard base, or the ones that meet any dietary needs, such as sugar free, vegan or lactose free. Then, the customers could choose from a long list of flavors, and mix-ins. Finally, the chill factor, teeth tingler, numb tongue, brain freeze, is all that is left to finish the creation.
However, choosing the cream or the flavor is not the end of the creation process, because after all the choices are made, the customers can witness how their ice creams freeze right on spot. Now a part of the ice cream creation process, everyone who comes into Sub Zero is not only on the receiving end, but also, in the production process.
Luckily, the fun of Sub Zero does not end in the store. An ice cream shop that is deeply involved in its community, Sub Zero at Federal Way is far from just an ice cream shop, because it also offers catering and in-class presentations. Often asked to go to elementary or middle schools for a fun science presentation, Jack usually first does a thirty to forty minutes presentation on liquid nitrogen ice creams, ’and our last experiment is making ice-cream’. Open to private schools, and home schooled children, Sub Zero is determined to bring the magic of its liquid nitrogen ice creams to the youngsters.
But other than the school science presentations, Sub Zero also does catering for corporate events, weddings and all kinds of celebrations. A delightful experience for guests as well as event holders, witnessing the transformation of their ice creams from liquid to frozen ice creams is sure to make eating ice cream an even more fun experience.
Sub Zero at Federal Way already has many Saturdays and Sundays of this summer booked up for various events. Any potential customer who has an event coming up can just contact Jack and design the flavors together. Wanting to bring this magical experience to many more people in the state of Washington, Jack is also looking for people with entrepreneur experiences to open up more Sub Zero stores in the state.
More Information on Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt:
Address: 31653 Pacific Hwy S Federal Way, WA 98003 b/t 312th St & 316th St
Phone number: (253) 335-8113
Hours of Operation:
Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm
Friday & Saturday 11am-11pm
Closed Sunday