Discovery Ice Cream looking for a franchisee!

OK, so here is the most recent update in a times news article about the direction Discovery Ice Cream is taking. Discovery Ice Cream is interested in reopening the shop in downtown if they can find a franchisee for the location.Click on www.timesnews.net for the article.

(type “Discovery Ice Cream” in the search box to the right for more on Discovery Ice Cream,or go to their website at www.discoveryicecream.com)

Select your ice cream and candy toppings and get served by a robot!

Check out the latest arrival to Downtown Kingsport on Broad Street.

Discovery Ice Cream has delicious coffee’s, teas, milkshakes, sundaes and a wide variety of ice cream.

KINGSPORT – Opening an ice cream shop isn’t a novel idea. But this is no ordinary ice cream shop.
This is Discovery Ice Cream, where old-fashioned flavor meets high-tech innovation. And to Allan Jones, this is the ice cream shop of the future.

“This is different. We don’t know of any other customer-oriented retail establishment in the country that will have any kind of robotic machine that will make a customizable product,” Jones said.

Jones, a Colorado native who holds a doctorate in chemistry, opened Discovery Ice Cream earlier this month at 231 Broad St. in downtown Kingsport. The shop features an ice cream ordering counter with a step that lets young children see what they’re ordering. It also features an area where patrons can see hard ice cream being made daily.

But the centerpiece of this shop is a robotic machine that makes i,ce cream to order at the touch of some buttons. Customers can choose either vanilla or the flavor of the day, combined with various candy toppings, to construct their very own three-layer ice cream creation.

“You can push a button and design it, and it’s made and delivered without any human involvement,” Jones said. “My kids don’t even like going to other ice cream stores now, they’re so spoiled.”

Birthday revelation

The idea for a robotic ice cream machine came to Jones on his birthday in October 2005. At the time he was director of innovation for the chemical company W.R. Grace in Cambridge, Mass.

“My job there was to go out and look for technologies,” Jones said.

He was thinking about that job on his birthday when his mind drifted.

Kids pushing buttons in elevators … ice cream … robotics …

“The idea came about really as a lot of innovation comes about – random things coming together,” Jones said. “It was just a crazy idea that came out of nowhere. We just decided to take a risk and actually do it.”

Jones was joined in the effort by his friend Dr. Jack Rutledge, a surgeon from Chattanooga, and his brother-in-law James Wolf, who owns two engineering businesses in Akron, Ohio.

Jones’ wife, Kathleen, also joined in to help.

In January 2006, Jones filed his first patent for the robotic ice cream machine. The following month, design work began on the first machine, and the three partners officially formed Discovery Ice Cream LLC.

An engineer from Bellingham, Wash., was contracted to build the first prototype machine, and in November 2006, the prototype was put to the test with about 150 children at a boys and girls club in Bellingham.

“It was a big hit,” Jones said.

Meanwhile, the partners were busy developing the concept of a Discovery Ice Cream store that would be children-oriented but parent-oriented at the same time.

The resulting concept: A store that offers robot-made ice cream for the kids, and coffee and espresso drinks for the parents. Coffee and ice cream combinations are also on the menu.

“If you want to talk about what is different about Discovery Ice Cream, No. 1, obviously technology. No. 2, a real orientation towards children and families beyond the standard ice cream store, and No. 3, this collision between the two worlds of ice cream and coffee, and being able to utilize 30 something flavors of ice cream and all these coffee and espresso drinks to create all these combinations which we call cool beans and cream,” Jones said.

Discovery Ice Cream features various ice cream and coffee offerings. It also serves low-fat smoothies made of berries and yogurt. And pastries are available for the morning menu.

Discovery Ice Cream currently features one robotic ice cream machine. Another machine now under construction will soon be installed. Jones said it will feature a robotic arm capable of pouring either chocolate or caramel syrup over ice cream creations.

Jones said more innovations are planned for the future.

“The ice cream robotic machine is the first generation of many other concepts that are being designed or patented,” Jones said. “There will be machines that do a lot of different, fun things.”

Ultimately, Jones and his partners hope to franchise Discovery Ice Cream, first regionally and then nationally, beginning in the second quarter of 2008.

“We’ve talked to national franchise development companies. There are several companies that are interested in taking this concept and helping us develop it. We just need to decide who to go with,” Jones said.

Why Kingsport?

Jones and his family were living in Cambridge, Mass., when he decided to quit his job at W.R. Grace and work full time to develop Discovery Ice Cream. He could establish the business anywhere. Perhaps Colorado, where he grew up. Or Akron, Ohio, where he earned his doctorate degree. Or Chattanooga, where one of his partners lived.

“The question was – where do you want to live? We could make the corporate headquarters anywhere,” Jones said.

He turned his attention to Kingsport, where he had worked for Eastman Chemical Co. for 10 years after graduate school. He still had friends here, and five of his six children were born here.

“We had ties here – church, friends, and it’s close to Chattanooga. Ultimately, that was the decision, to come back here,” Jones said.

The family moved back in September 2006, and started searching for a building to house Discovery Ice Cream.

“We weren’t necessarily locked into coming downtown at all. We just found a building that met our goals,” Jones said.

That building was a 9,000-square-foot, two-story brick structure on Broad Street. The main level has undergone major renovations to make way for the high-tech ice cream shop. The upper level houses corporate offices overlooking Broad Street. And the basement serves as an office and storage for the restaurant.

In all, Jones said he and his partners have invested about $1 million in the business. He said he’s hoping to be a big contributor to downtown Kingsport.

“We’re going to do our best to draw people downtown. We think this will be a big draw,” Jones said.

The store employs about 15 people, including Jones’ two oldest children, Luke and Alyson. Jones serves as chief executive officer of Discovery Ice Cream LLC, while Jack Rutledge is president, and James Wolf is vice president of engineering.

The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The business is closed on Sunday.

The company’s Web site is www.discoveryicecream.com.

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