Brookline company still keeping cool
http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/news/x1743976 [2008-6-26]
Tag : coal cutter
Even though it’s the middle of June, winter can still befound in Brookline.
Climbing up the stairs to the second floor of 610 Brookline Ave.,it’s easy to miss the small, white door on the left. Barely 5feet tall, the door opens onto a winter wonderland. Huge blocks ofice lie on the floor and frost is everywhere. The room feels like agiant freezer, and that’s the point. This is where all ofBrookline Ice and Coal’s ice sculptures are carved by hand.
“Anything you can dream, we can create out of ice foryou,” said Charlotte Ploss, a sales representative for themore than 90-year-old Brookline-based company. “Bagged ice isour bread and butter. Ice sculptures are our pretty face.”
One of the last manufacturing companies in Brookline, the companystarted operating in 1915 on Washington Street. Mariano Signorebought what was then a coal company and added selling ice to havework year-round, according to family members. Today, Brookline Icemakes 50 tons of ice a day, or enough ice to fill 20,000 5-poundbags. A fleet of more than 20 green trucks brings bags of ice tolocal hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, caterers and anyoneelse who orders ice. Customers can also buy different types ofcharcoal, fuel and winter supplies, such as rock salt. Icesculptures or ice bowls are made to order.
“[Customers] are very surprised when they find out it’sstill a family business,” said Jennifer Signore.“It’s nice. It’s wonderful. My grandfather was ahard worker. And I enjoy and I like what I do.”
Brookline Ice, now located at Brookline Avenue, is run by threegenerations of Signores. The current patriarch, Gus Signore, 84, isfirst into the office each morning and still makes deliveries whilehis granddaughter, Jennifer, deals with dispatching trucks. Overits lifetime, the company has moved three times and is currentlyplanning to expand to Roxbury. Yet the family said they feelcommitted to Brookline and plan to stay in town.
The busiest times for the company are the Christmas season,November to early January, and April through June. The first weekin June saw a total of around 20 deliveries while just one day inmid-December saw even more deliveries. Since ice counts as a foodproduct, the Environmental Protection Agency tests the ice at leastonce a month to make sure it’s safe.
Even though the really busy season is almost over for BrooklineIce, the office is bustling. The phone is constantly ringing andPloss’ desk is covered with orders and ice sculpture designs.Workers walk in and out wearing down jackets and hats to stay warmin the rooms where the ice is kept. A three-story-high machinemakes the ice, which is directly deposited and then sealed intobags.
“I like the people here,” said Jose Amparo, an employeeof the company who said he always wears a brown hoodie to work,even in the summer. “I like working in an ice house betterthan working outside in the hot.”
Ploss, who has been with the Brookline Ice on and off since 1984,said the company makes all of its ice bowls in-house, but buys amajority of the blocks of ice. They can make any type of icesculpture for any occasion, ranging from weddings to christeningsto even funerals. A file cabinet in the main office holds hundredsof ideas and design drawings, each in individually labeled files,such as children’s event or birthday party.
The ice sculptures are generally between $280 and $380, but can goas high as $8,000 for a bar made of ice. They have made icesculptures for presidents (the first George Bush) and for HarvardUniversity. The ice bowls generally have small items frozen intothem, such as a pizza cutter, peppers and mushrooms for theretirement party of a pizzeria owner. .
Even though it’s the middle of June, winter can still befound in Brookline.
Climbing up the stairs to the second floor of 610 Brookline Ave.,it’s easy to miss the small, white door on the left. Barely 5feet tall, the door opens onto a winter wonderland. Huge blocks ofice lie on the floor and frost is everywhere. The room feels like agiant freezer, and that’s the point. This is where all ofBrookline Ice and Coal’s ice sculptures are carved by hand.
“Anything you can dream, we can create out of ice foryou,” said Charlotte Ploss, a sales representative for themore than 90-year-old Brookline-based company. “Bagged ice isour bread and butter. Ice sculptures are our pretty face.”
One of the last manufacturing companies in Brookline, the companystarted operating in 1915 on Washington Street. Mariano Signorebought what was then a coal company and added selling ice to havework year-round, according to family members. Today, Brookline Icemakes 50 tons of ice a day, or enough ice to fill 20,000 5-poundbags. A fleet of more than 20 green trucks brings bags of ice tolocal hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, caterers and anyoneelse who orders ice. Customers can also buy different types ofcharcoal, fuel and winter supplies, such as rock salt. Icesculptures or ice bowls are made to order.
“[Customers] are very surprised when they find out it’sstill a family business,” said Jennifer Signore.“It’s nice. It’s wonderful. My grandfather was ahard worker. And I enjoy and I like what I do.”
Brookline Ice, now located at Brookline Avenue, is run by threegenerations of Signores. The current patriarch, Gus Signore, 84, isfirst into the office each morning and still makes deliveries whilehis granddaughter, Jennifer, deals with dispatching trucks. Overits lifetime, the company has moved three times and is currentlyplanning to expand to Roxbury. Yet the family said they feelcommitted to Brookline and plan to stay in town.
The busiest times for the company are the Christmas season,November to early January, and April through June. The first weekin June saw a total of around 20 deliveries while just one day inmid-December saw even more deliveries. Since ice counts as a foodproduct, the Environmental Protection Agency tests the ice at leastonce a month to make sure it’s safe.
Even though the really busy season is almost over for BrooklineIce, the office is bustling. The phone is constantly ringing andPloss’ desk is covered with orders and ice sculpture designs.Workers walk in and out wearing down jackets and hats to stay warmin the rooms where the ice is kept. A three-story-high machinemakes the ice, which is directly deposited and then sealed intobags.
“I like the people here,” said Jose Amparo, an employeeof the company who said he always wears a brown hoodie to work,even in the summer. “I like working in an ice house betterthan working outside in the hot.”
Ploss, who has been with the Brookline Ice on and off since 1984,said the company makes all of its ice bowls in-house, but buys amajority of the blocks of ice. They can make any type of icesculpture for any occasion, ranging from weddings to christeningsto even funerals. A file cabinet in the main office holds hundredsof ideas and design drawings, each in individually labeled files,such as children’s event or birthday party.
The ice sculptures are generally between $280 and $380, but can goas high as $8,000 for a bar made of ice. They have made icesculptures for presidents (the first George Bush) and for HarvardUniversity. The ice bowls generally have small items frozen intothem, such as a pizza cutter, peppers and mushrooms for theretirement party of a pizzeria owner. .
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