Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Farizel.
Kyle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began working in the service industry in high school and have continued to do so on and off and throughout my entire life.
The way I ended up owning an ice cream shop in St Paul MN parallels with my journey in recovery from drugs and alcohol. I came to St Paul from Basalt CO almost five years ago at one of the lowest points of my life to admit myself into a 30-day inpatient treatment program.
Upon completion, I moved into a sober house in the twin cities where I began to engage myself with the robust recovery community that I had no idea existed here or anywhere. Through a friend in the community, I found out a fellow guy in recovery owned an ice cream shop and was looking for help. I got hired to scoop ice cream and barista a couple of days a week while I got back on my feet. After about a year the original owner moved out of the state to follow a different pursuit with his family and sold the shop to a couple of friends. Before buying it, they asked me if I could be the one to run it for them since they both had other full time professions. Of course, I accepted. After running the shop for the next 3 years the opportunity arose for me to buy them out. I jumped at that opportunity and shortly after took over full ownership of Cold Front in October 2020.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In my first year of ownership, going from managing one store to owning and operating not just the one shop, but also starting our first full season (72 games) with an ice cream stand at CHS Field while having multiple events with our mobile cart was a bit challenging to manage all 3 at times. The two new additions to the company were only operated very minimally the year prior due to Covid so we had no idea what to expect going into the summer of 2021. I wasn’t sure if people were going to start coming out or not, but it ended up being the busiest year for Cold Front by quite a large margin and it seemed to come out of nowhere. We got through it successfully, honored all of our obligations and made some happy customers.
Of course, Covid, supply chain issues, and the cost of good rising substantially were all things that I think most small businesses had to deal with the last few years.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Cold Front?
Cold Front is a unique neighborhood space that combines the old-fashioned values of community and with today’s discerning palettes for exceptional taste experiences in the heart of St. Paul. Cold Front provides an unforgettable customer experience combining made-to-order fountain drinks, premium ice cream and exceptional coffee with superior customer service in a warm & welcoming space from morning until night.
Any big plans?
In our immediate future are going to fine tune our two newest endeavors which are our mobile event cart and ice cream stand at CHS Field (minor league baseball stadium). We’ll continue to innovate and improve our flagship store. Opening up a second full brick and mortar Cold Front sometime down the road is a possibility as well.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.coldfrontmsp.com
- Instagram: @coldfrontmsp
- Facebook: coldfrontmsp
- Twitter: @coldfrontmsp
