Everyone has a perfect summer memory. Chances are good it involves a sunny day, ice cream and the ring-ring of a bike bell.
Icicle Tricycles, a fleet of ice cream vendors on heavy-duty tricycles, brings childhood memories back in a flash.
Choco-taco, anyone? Peddling on bright orange rigs made here in town, the scruffy drivers paint a hipper version of a Norman Rockwell painting, in a retro-historical kind of way. Icicle Tricycles debuted on the streets of Portland last summer, and business has grown this year.
"Ice cream tricycles compliment the streetscape," says Ryan Hashagen from inside dusty Chinatown headquarters, where the other branch of this venture, Portland Cascadia Pedicabs, also operates. "Our sales come from eye to eye contact." This is a diplomatic way of saying that unlike the competing ice cream trucks that endlessly chime "The Entertainer" in your ear like an uninvited mosquito, Icicle drivers take a soft sell approach. Such mobile retailing is in his blood, apparently. Hashagen's grandfather made deliveries by bike in Salem, OR. UPS, he adds, started out making their deliveries on tricycles.
Simple pleasures like these are making a roaring comeback, and most ice cream bars and popsicles are just $1 and $2.
On average, twenty-three drivers a day hit the streets from noon to eight p.m., and fan out across the city. Most own their vehicles and overhead is the frozen treats. which drivers restock back at headquarters on busy days.
One driver named Sam, flagged down in the South Park Blocks on the 4th of July, said on a basically good day he makes $100. Our group, which included two three year-olds, selected a Mango Ice and rainbow-flavored Lifesaver pop, the remains of which ended up on their sundresses, of course.
Mango Chile, Choco-Taco, and The Red Rocket, (Sam's best seller) are also on the menu, among other flavors.
Naturally, kids love a spontaneous ice cream experience, but the best customers are old-school, says Hashagen. "We get calls for special events, barbecues and kids parties," says Hashagen, "but grandparents really love us. They all have stories of ice cream trikes."
If you can sell at least 50 frozen treats at your next party or event, call 360-510-1818 to have an Icicle Tricycle pedal over. Otherwise,look for an Icicle Tricycle in a neighborhood near you.
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