Franchising
The Original Rainbow Cone franchising after 96 years
The Original Rainbow Cone is a Chigaco-based line of ice cream shops. Now on its third generation of ownership, the granddaughter of the founder is ready to franchise after 96 years in the business.
August 19, 2022
Choosing just one, maybe two, flavors of ice cream in an ice cream shop can be difficult. With the rise of gourmet flavors like lavender lemon and tarragon olive oil, it can be difficult to narrow it down. But what if you could get five flavors on one cone? That's the idea behind The Original Rainbow Cone, a five-flavor delight that is sliced — not scooped — and served on a cone.
It's a staple of Chicago's Southside, where seven units and five food trucks serve up a concoction made of orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House (New York vanilla with cherries and walnuts), strawberry and chocolate. The Rainbow Cone is the brainchild of Joseph Sapp, who loved ice cream and often saved his pennies for a scoop or two. His only choices were chocolate and vanilla. He wanted more bang for his dime.
In 1926, Joe and his wife, Katharine, selected a spot on 92nd and Western Avenue in Chicago to open their own ice cream stand. He began offering the Rainbow Cone stacked high with flavors, and soon the Sapps outgrew their tiny shack, moving to a bigger location.
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Nine decades later, the brand is now in the hands of Joe Sapp's granddaughter, Lynn Sapp, who's taking the concept to the next level. She's partnered with Joe Buonavolanto III, whose family owns the Buona concept – dozens of Italian beef restaurants sprinkled throughout Illinois. Together, Sapp and the Buonavolanto family are in the beginning stages of offering franchises.
"We partnered with the Buonavolanto family in 2018," Sapp said. "I don't have kids, and I had nobody for a line of succession. I wanted to partner with a family-oriented business… (the Buonavolantos) are the perfect fit because they are family oriented. They are restaurant people, and it takes a lot of energy to do this every day."
Three Rainbow Cone units are partnered with Buona restaurants and three more are under construction.
The five-flavored Rainbow Cone is comprised of a proprietary mix of ice creams and sherbet, and the novelty of the cone is what sets Rainbow Cone apart from others in the dessert space. Rainbow Cones make up 70% of sales. "Rainbow cones are what made the concept famous," Buonavolanto said. "It is one of the most unique offerings in desserts that you could ever have. … I can't even describe it to you unless you've had it. You literally have to taste all five flavors in a single bite to understand what the craze is on the Southside of Chicago."
The brand also sells other flavors of ice cream, vegan sherbet, blueberry and pumpkin pies, donuts, sundaes, milkshakes and root beer floats. There's even a 12-inch rainbow cake or cake log.
Sapp and members of the Buonavolanto family took elements of the original 92nd Street location and created a modern, sleek design that is "very in-tune with today's customer," Buonavolanto said. There are Instagram spots in each shop that encourages social media sharing.
"You can smell the donuts when you walk in," Buonavolanto said. "You can smell the waffle cones being made. It's pretty unique."
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Now that franchising has begun and they're expanding the number of corporate stores, they've got a formula for ideal locations. They're looking for solid population density with a minimum of 40,000 people, a high percentage of homeownership and diverse communities.
"We're very optimistic about going in to almost any market we can given solid access from the roads, high visibility (and) great signage," Buonavolanto said.
Sapp added that they look for spots with enough room for inside and outside seating because the entire concept revolves around the idea of family.
Why franchise now after 96 years? Sapp said it's always been a dream. She had the concept. The Buonavolantos had the growth knowledge and the technology. "Working with their team has allowed us to take it to the next level," Sapp said. "It's getting all of the information out of my brain. I've literally trained in it my whole life. My grandparents were above the store and I grew up right behind it.
"We feel that the two of us together could really position this so that we can accomplish the dream of having the Rainbow Cone in as many communities as possible," Buonavolanto said.
The Buonavolanto family has taken over lead generation and backend operations like franchising as a whole. Once someone is signed on to open a Rainbow Cone location, Sapp steps in.
"Their strength is taking the new technology and streamlining it and putting it in a package so that people can run their business very efficiently," Sapp said. "I'm the history. I'm the story. I'm the enthusiasm."
The brand has filed business licenses and is ready to go in states like the Midwest, but also states in which Chicagoans may have settled in like Colorado, Arizona, Texas and Florida. They've had up to 70 leads in one week's time. Although they prefer to stay within close proximity to Chicago, "if we find the right operators that we feel are going to be successful in a market like Florida, Texas or Arizona, we're going to go down there; but, more importantly, we have the systems in place to have visibility to make sure our quality and service is preserved while making the franchisee successful in the process."
Customers who have moved to other states become brand ambassadors and will help spread the gospel of The Original Rainbow Cone. Part of the reason why the company has waited so long to franchise is the need to guard the proprietary ice cream.
"I don't know what's coming down the road, but we adapt," Sapp said, "and that's the beauty of working with the younger generation of Buonavolantos."
During the pandemic, while the competition struggled with staffing and closed early, The Original Rainbow Cone was extending hours and building trucks. "We took the cone to the people," Buonavolanto said.
