SEMINOLE, Fla. — The awesomely named Vampire Penguin doesn’t serve ice cream. Or shaved ice.
The sweet shop in Seminole specializes in a delicious concoction called “shaved snow.”
Thanks to ingenuity from the owner’s father, Vampire Penguin is back open for business.
“We closed down for two weeks, but in that time, we figured out a way to reopen,” says Jessica Stach, a small-business owner who’s had to adapt to a tough new normal.
Jessica, her boat-builder father, and her brother invented a wild lazy-Susan-type contraption that slides perfectly into the shop’s front door to keep Vampire Penguin’s staff and customers safe.
Customers and staff are separated. Only card payments are accepted in a small exterior machine. Cash is currently not accepted.
“We make the product in back,” says Stach. “Then we take it up to the front, rotate it to the customers. After they grab their treat, we use an alcohol solution to wipe everything down for the next customer.”
Vampire Penguin opened not too long ago.
Making the change due to the pandemic was a tricky adjustment. But Jessica and her creative family refused to let the shop fail.
Business has been steady since the shop began using the new contraption.
“I think the community is happy to see us back open,” says Stach.
For more on Vampire Penguin, visit www.vampirepenguin.com.
