"Andy" > wrote
>
> I haven't seen a baskin robbins in years!

Here in New England, they are now coupled with Dunkin Donuts in many
locations. Poor flavor selection though, not the full 31


>
> We have a Friendly's but that's a more of a full service restaurant.

The Friendly's headquarters is in Wilbraham, MA. All the stand alone
restaurants around here have a walk up window for ice cream. For the most
part, it is decent enough stuff, but they do have a very good pistachio and
Forbidden Chocolate.



>
> I imagine business falls way off during the winter months. A Rita's water
> ice stand in town closes it's doors every winter. That's a lot of down
> time. I wonder how they pay the rent?!

They charge plenty of $$$ for a few pennies of slush. Many of the ice cream
places close for the winter. A stand in our town opens mid-May and the last
day is Labor Day. They do work long hours in summer though, open 7 days, 12
hours a day.

The price of a single dip of ice cream at a lot of stands costs about the
same as a container at the supermarket. Hefty markup.