Photo by Flickr user jpellgen, licensed under Creative Commons
Ample Hills Creamery on the brink of going out of business
The Brooklyn-based creamery furloughed workers and closed its scoop shops this week to preserve cash as it looks for more
The future of Ample Hills Creamery is looking increasingly dire.
A bleak statement from its parent company, Schmitt Industries, announced that Ample Hills has furloughed its workers and temporarily closed its 12 locations for the week as it seeks to raise additional cash for it to continue operations. It warned that there’s “no assurance” that additional money will come in, and if that happens, Ample Hills will “shut down operations indefinitely.”
“We have an incredibly talented and hardworking team, which makes this furlough extremely difficult. We have explored many options and paths to rase the needed capital without having to take this step, but unfortunately, we have reached a point where this is our only option,” said Schmitt Industries CEO Michael Zapata, in a press release that was also posted on Ample Hills’ website.
A Story posted on Ample Hills’ Instagram account said the shops will reopen on Monday, December 26.
The stunning announcement caps off a rough few years for the company, which saw its fortunes melt due to over-expansion by its previous owners, leading to a March 2020 bankruptcy In a March 2021 interview with “Brooklyn Magazine: The Podcast,” Ample Hills founders Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna were candid about what went wrong under their watch. Ample Hills was sold after bankruptcy in June 2020 to the new owner.
Smith and Cuscuna opened a new ice cream shop in Prospect Heights called The Social a year later. They will be closing early on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day, but otherwise open for business.
