Prof. Howard Weiss shares his interest in Italian ice with us today, March 20th, the first day of Spring.
Rita’s Ice represents an example of seasonal operations, illustrating both the challenges and opportunities due to demand variability. Founded in 1984 in a Philadelphia suburb, the company has expanded to nearly 600 franchises across 463 cities in 30 states, becoming the largest Italian ice franchise in the U.S. Despite this growth, Rita’s core product offerings—Italian ice and frozen custard—remain strongly associated with warm-weather consumption.
Most Rita’s locations operate as walk-up or drive-through outlets, opening by March 1 and closing no earlier than the third Sunday in September. This operational model results in an important inefficiency: franchisees incur fixed costs, particularly rent, for all 12 months while generating revenue for only about seven. Supplement 7 of your Heizer/Render/Munson textbook suggests developing complementary products with countercyclical demand– such as jet skis and snowmobiles– thereby using the same resources all year long.
However, Rita’s appears to be considering an alternative approach—extending operations year-round. This shift reflects evolving consumer behavior, as frozen desserts such as ice cream increasingly exhibit steady demand even in colder months, particularly in warmer climates or high-traffic retail environments like shopping malls. By remaining open throughout the year, Rita’s could better leverage its fixed assets and enhance brand visibility. But this strategy would require careful demand forecasting and possibly localized adaptation, as consumer preferences in colder regions may still exhibit too much seasonal sensitivity to make it worthwhile to open all year.
From a production standpoint, Rita’s must also manage perishability constraints. Cream, a primary ingredient in frozen custard, necessitates reliance on local distributors to ensure freshness. Additionally, custard is discarded after 36 hours, underscoring the importance of accurate short-term demand forecasting and inventory control. Rita’s maintains a consistent gelato formula across franchises, it offers over 60 flavors, rotating them based on popularity data. This approach balances operational consistency with responsiveness to consumer preferences.
Finally, beginning in 1984, Rita’s has marked the beginning of Spring by offering free Italian Ice. This longstanding tradition on the first day of spring—March 20 this year—serves as an effective promotional tool. The initiative not only marks the seasonal reopening of many locations but also reinforces brand loyalty and drives customer engagement.
Classroom Discussion Questions:
- Name two products or services with complementary seasonal demands.
- How would you determine if the demand for ice cream is high enough in the winter to warrant staying open all year?
Prof. Howard Weiss shares his insights on the power of Excel’s Solver.
This is Solver’s objective. The changing cells are the intercept and slope, there are no constraints, and the method in Solver is GRG Nonlinear. In addition, for least squares the “Make Unconstrained Variables Non-Negative” needs to be unchecked since slopes/trends can be negative in forecasting– although not in this example.
Professor Misty Blessley at Temple U. looks at the “No- Buy” movement.
At its core the movement is a consumer mindset focused on refraining from non-essential purchases for a set period, for some an entire year. Trending on online communities are people sharing their No-Buy challenges and success stories. Some are motivated to cut debt or save for long-term goals, while others are concerned with sustainability, minimalism, or anti- consumption values. Participation is surging, especially among millennials and Gen Zs, who are juggling inflation, student debt, and climate anxiety.
Professor Howard Weiss provides a timely example of qualitative forecasting.
From the closings one can see the severity of an upcoming storm as indicated by this map captured one day before Hurricane Milton is scheduled to strike Florida. Residents can use the information to decide on their storm strategy. One can also see the damage caused after the storm based on the open or closed Waffle Houses. The use of the index is a qualitative forecasting method as discussed your textbook.
Prof. Howard Weiss developed the POM and Excel OM software that we provide free with our text
Dr. Misty Blessley, Associate Professor of Statistics, Operations, and Data Science at Temple University, shares her insights with our readers monthly.
Dr. Misty Blessley, Associate Professor of Statistics, Operations, and Data Science at Temple U., shares her sports preferences with us today.
The EA Madden game is going with an Eagles victory (Fortune, February 6, 2023), as are the legalized betting organizations. Still, we forge on with consulting event planning. I took a picture of a long line of portable toilets north of City Hall, which were in preparation for Pope Francis’ visit in 2015. It is to be food for thought about all that goes into planning a parade. “Kansas City officials are planning a multimillion-dollar parade for Feb. 15…,” (The Kansas City Star, February 2, 2023).
