44°
“You can’t fall asleep,’’ Turco said. “You have to keep changing with the times. New ideas, new products and innovation help keep us fresh. There’s so much competition. We try to be the best at what we do. This just makes us unique.”
Turco’s held a grand opening in May for the ice cream parlor, which sits on the second floor of the supermarket. Turco said there is seating for nearly 80 people, and the area will be available for birthday parties and other events. The parlor includes hard and soft ice cream, sundaes, flying saucers, cones, cups and all of the other items associated with the dairy treat.
There are 16 varieties of Perry’s, a premium brand based in Akron, N.Y. The parlor also offers soft-serve ice cream.
“We’re all about food, and the ice cream parlor is a great addition to our store,’’ Turco said. “We’ve been making prepared food for more than 40 years. We smoke our fish, make our own salads, and have been voted the number one pizzeria in Yorktown. The sandwiches are the best in Westchester County. We have a full-service restaurant. The one thing we were missing was a dessert.”
Turco said year-round ice cream parlors are becoming increasingly harder to find. He believes his parlor will sell a premium product at a cost lower than the ice parlors that are still in existence.
“We don’t have to make it expensive,’’ he said. “It’s an additive for us not our sole income. We’re able to discount them. We don’t have to charge what an ice cream store would charge. We’re not dependent on that sole income.”
Turco said the idea for an ice cream parlor developed over the winter. “We were down there and I thought ‘Boy, I wish I had ice cream.’ That was the start of it. I said, 'Let’s build one.'”
The parlor is the just the latest trend-setting innovation for Turco, whose business started with a small produce stand in the Bronx. He opened a store in Hartsdale before moving to the bigger location in Yorktown in 2000.
“We create a theater,’’ Turco said. “We put on a show. This is the place where people meet, and they all know each other. We have extremely loyal customers. Everything we do is fairly priced. It was never my goal to be the biggest. We want to be the best.”
For more information on Turco's, visit its website.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Yorktown and receive free news updates.
