The new store called “Peace, Love & Pops,” with a fun 1970s themed design, recently appeared on University Boulevard and will be opening soon toward the end of May.
The store will be selling popsicles, also known as ice pops. The owners Scot Harrison and Jim Roberts mentioned how they loved the simplicity and fun of eating a popsicle and how it can be eaten anywhere — inside the store, outside the store or people can just grab it and go.
“Our focus was to find a simple product and make it in such a way that is easily repeatable and fun,” Harrison said.
How they came up with the idea
The business idea stemmed from the owners’ experience at a popsicle store in Birmingham, Alabama, called “Steel City Pops,” which they visited when Harrison lived in Alabama. Both Roberts and Harrison loved the taste of the ice pops and the business idea.
Roberts mentioned that after a few years of visiting the popsicle store in Alabama, both Harrison and Roberts retired from their previous jobs to pursue this business idea in Arizona. They evolved the idea and came up with their own name and brand.
Its store name came from Harrison’s wife. He said in terms of the branding and name, they “wanted something fun, light-hearted and reflective of a cold treat.” It also worked out that the name was available as a business and domain name.
“I couldn’t figure out why we didn’t have the concept here, in one of the hottest places on earth,” Roberts said.
Why University Boulevard?
Both of the owners live in Oro Valley and were wanting to open a business around the town. However, Harrison mentioned they didn’t find what they wanted in terms of the space. So, after visiting the University of Arizona and noticing that some of the places were vacant, they made a decision to purchase a space on University Boulevard.
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“It’s more like the space found us. There’s a great population around here for a popsicle, a lot of walking traffic … a lot of visibility,” Harrison said.
Harrison said with the amount of students, faculty, surrounding businesses and the town of Tucson, it was a great location for their business.
Goals for Peace, Love & Pops
When discussing the goals for the business, Harrison emphasized the importance of creating a business that you could be proud of and won’t exhaust the team members.
Harrison’s background is in hospitality and radio media experience, and Roberts has experience with developing and operating convenience stores. They are able to combine their skills and strengths in an effective and collaborative way.
“We want to have our staff and team members engaged and make some money but also understand there is more to it … to also focus on their studies and to go see their family,” Harrison said.
The business owners said they want to create a job atmosphere that doesn’t feel like a job and they want their employees to enjoy coming to work and to be excited to be a part of it.
“We’ll look at the opportunities as they go along. We don’t want to force our way into anything. We want to tell people about ourselves but not sell people on ourselves,” Harrison said. “If we bring our personality, our product, our approach to life and this business to people and they see it for what it is and it’s genuine and it’s real, they’ll be drawn to it and we won’t have to sell to anybody.”
How to get $1 off your next popsicle
When the business opens in May, customers can also get a free water bottle along with the purchase of a popsicle. If you return the water bottle, you can get $1 off your next popsicle.
“We didn’t want a bunch of [the water bottles] to be thrown on the side of the street so if you return this bottle, you get a dollar off your next popsicle … . It’s part marketing, part being a good neighbor and just trying to be helpful,” Harrison said.
For the future, both Harrison and Roberts said they hope to expand to other parts of Arizona, but for now, they are going to enjoy the beginning of their new business.
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