Scott and Jacob Margroff Discuss Flavor and Innovation at Strickland’s

Why It Matters

The blend of heritage equipment and tightly controlled franchising shows how legacy brands can scale while preserving product consistency, a competitive edge in the premium dessert market.

Key Takeaways

• Original 1936 equipment ensures rapid freeze, creamy texture
• Four‑machine model standardizes core and rotating flavors
• Franchisees must get flavor approval from Margroffs
• Expansion reaches California, boosting national presence
• Dense, low‑air ice cream differentiates from competitors

Pulse Analysis

Strickland's longevity hinges on more than nostalgia; its 1930s‑era freezers freeze mix in seconds, creating micro‑crystals that melt smoothly on the palate. This rapid freeze, coupled with a deliberately slow churn, yields a dense, low‑overrun product that stands out amid today’s airy, low‑fat offerings. Consumers increasingly seek texture as a quality marker, and Strickland's equipment delivers that tactile premium without sacrificing flavor integrity.

The franchise model reinforces this texture advantage by standardizing four machines per site, fixing chocolate and vanilla while allowing two rotating flavors under direct oversight from Scott and Jacob Margroff. This controlled innovation pipeline ensures new tastes—like the perennial banana or seasonal twists—maintain the brand’s texture benchmark. Franchisees benefit from a clear framework: they propose flavors, receive expert approval, and instantly tap into a proven production system, reducing trial‑and‑error costs common in artisanal ice‑cream ventures.

Geographic expansion into California signals a strategic push beyond the Midwest, positioning Strickland's to capture affluent, experience‑driven markets on the West Coast. The brand’s emphasis on equipment‑driven quality aligns with broader industry trends favoring authentic, heritage‑based products. As the Margroffs eye further franchising and potential co‑branding opportunities, their model could inspire other legacy food businesses to leverage original machinery as a differentiator, marrying tradition with scalable growth.

Original Description

Strickland’s is a family-owned ice cream shop that opened in Akron, Ohio, in 1936, and the original operation is still using its original equipment.

It has since expanded to five locations in its home state, all franchised except for the original shop, and it recently opened a franchised location in Costa Mesa, Calif. (not its first location in that state — it previously had a franchise on the campus of the University of California at Irvine).

Strickland’s formula is straightforward: Each location has four ice cream machines, one churning out chocolate ice cream, another producing vanilla, and the other two making a rotating flavor determined at the discretion of the franchisee, with approval of the concept’s franchisors, Father-and-son team Scott and Jacob Margroff.

They’ve churned out a variety of flavors, banana being a longtime favorite, but the Margroffs say the secret recipe is really their equipment, which, apart from being sturdy, freezes the ice cream quickly, resulting in tiny ice crystals and therefore a creamy mouth feel. But it churns slowly, resulting in a dense texture with minimal air.

The Margroffs recently shared their approach to operations and flavor development as well as their plans for the future.