End of summer

Well, here we are. We made it relatively unscathed through the summer. It’s been a hot one and there hasn’t been much rain. In one way that was good for the store but not good for the plants and animals. It is what it is.

I think we’ve finally hit a crossroad with our store. When we opened up in 2019, we had vague/broad ideas about the future because it was just so hard to find a vacant location. And when we actually did open, we just tried to make it through the summer. Then Covid hit in 2020, and our summer/year was all about that. The year 2021 was like a prolonged period of malaise. And I still don’t know what to think of 2022; it’s a bit better but as I’m writing this in mid-August I can’t properly judge since this period in time is always so sluggish and drawn out. Next year I’m definitely taking off second week of August and going to some place like South France.

Yet we are a food business. And honestly I don’t know if our gelato has improved, gone stagnant, or gotten worse. It’s weird because we aren’t new anymore, but we’ve been accumulating new customers along with older ones moving away and perhaps poached over from some mediocre yet more convenient places. We’ve had to shift and evolve faster than I expected. Covid and the short attention span society has demanded that. Both Jenny and I care about making people happy, so in some ways we’ve compromised our style. The Deep Pretzel flavor is a perfect example. I’m a reductionist and prefer less. If you gave me 10 ingredients I’d probably give away 7 and use the best 3. So yes, our stuff is good, but does it matter? I think the answer is that it depends. Succeeding (in one manner) isn’t about making the best product, but rather the product that is the best solution to what is today. And maybe we are out of date. But then again in a month the thing that’s hot shit is old shit. Everything is a quick sound bite. It’s hard to say where we are. We stretch the limits of our personal tastes with some flavors, but I can’t go so far as to make mustard or hot dog flavors. I’m too much a faux WASP to do all that.

So where do we go from here? Years ago when we were starting up, it was a goal to have another store and preferably in Jersey City. Mainly it was to have our main store as the production/soul and the Jersey City store to be the cousin. Plus I’ve always wanted an urban store. Before we opened in Bloomfield we almost signed a lease in the East Village of Manhattan. It was nearly a done deal. I’m just glad we didn’t go through with it because being there during Covid would have been garbage. But we had all these cool ideas for that store, and it’s only possible in an urban environment. That store would have been fucking wild. It was going to be more Asian, more techno, and open at like 4pm and close whenever. Yet being back here in Jersey I’ve discovered that I do have a soft heart for the place, and New York isn’t as fun as it used to be even before covid. I roll my eyes when people say its the most exciting city. So if our stuff is good, it’s partially because I care about upholding something good for the state. I feel the urge to build something here, and to grow APEM into a standard bearer of gelato/ice cream in the tristate area. Jersey City was a target because I can be unabashedly Jersey but still pull off what we planned. And Jersey City is very different from the time Jenny lived there. It’s more into our favor.

Covid made us go into a type of survival mode. Well that’s not an accurate phrase. We really went into a suicide mode. It was assumed that APEM was going to fail because how could you not when shit like Covid hits? So we just made the best stuff we could for you all. We just focused on what week we were in and made flavors in the moment. When we actually survived through 2020 we were like, “oh, well good. Maybe 2021 will be better.” But it wasn’t. I don’t mean in terms of business but it was like being in an episode of the walking dead. 2022 are those episodes where they’re all living in that fake town in Alexandria and people act like things are normal again. But they’re not. Today is fucking weird. Over the last few years I’ve watched friends and family become more paranoid, fearful, and socially awkward. I spent many years in the void so this kind of social alienation was nothing new to me.

Another store is on hold, that’s for sure. But if we are to continue, what do we need? Well, first, we need a good full time employee. We need a sergeant. Covid took a lot out of us. My back is fucking shot, Jenny’s wrists are ruined, and the one thing that I love as much as gelato, traveling, was taken from me. For me traveling is like breathing. It is in my family’s blood. And there’s no other store, or even a sustained future with our current store, if we don’t have our rock. Second, we have storage issues. When we selected our current location, we just had to fucking take it. There was nothing out there except overpriced locations(if we were even able to find a vacant space) and rentals that weren’t made for startups. But now we are out of space. With a sergeant and more storage, we could be open 7 days a week and have another store. We’d certainly like all, but is it possible? That’s what we have to find out. Even if we start to piece together solutions for those problems we will need help to reach those goals. That’s money and people with skills to squeeze us into a good location and find that storage.

Overall, despite my observations of today I think we still make something special. Our style and flavors are unique, and we really care about uplifting Jersey in terms of offering something that you can be proud of. But to get from here to where we can do all these things involves a lot of parts moving at the same time. I have the skill and passion for it, Jenny provides the hospitality and heart backbone, but we need more pieces. And maybe we need to go back to our roots a little more. I think I’d like APEM to become more focused on my skills and passion for it all. I’m a rolling ball of fire when it comes to things I love and given the tools and help I’m the best. It’s something to let settle as we head into Autumn.

Me outside the house of my favorite poet Robinson Jeffers. His poetry has helped to keep the fuel going at APEM.