Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Hays.
Hi Todd, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My Father and my Grand parents decided to open a snowball stand and make our own flavors on our property at 38 Gibbons blvd, next to the cockeysville library. It grew so popular that some of the neighbors asked zoning to shut us down, My father got us on the news and people were outraged and we were able to move the location to the current spot at 6 E Padonia Rd where it has become Baltimores Best and Baltimores favorite for the last 40 years. My brother and uncle purchased it from my Dad 22 years ago, and I just purchased it from my uncle and Tom so that it remains in the Hays family. Snowball making, flavor making, and summertime fun has been a part of our family since 1977 and my goal is to build the SnOasis brand by opening additional product extensions, additional locations, and extending our distribution services.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was hard in many ways.
1. As kids and all through high school and college, the Hays family rule was that you worked 7 days a week open to close with only July 4th as a day off.
2. When zoning shut us down, we had to put the stand on a trailer and it added lots of complexity and its own sets of challenges.
3. We assisted many other snowball operators get started, (SummerShack, Friendly) with the idea that we would be able to earn a small profit in the flavor making and service side of the business in exchange for our knowledge, but that assistance went unrequitted.
4. When my father was demoted from a corporate job, and we all decided to grow our store base to 10 locations, it nearly destroyed the family’s finances, health, and future.
As you know, we’re big fans of SnOasis and more, inc. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
SnOasis and more operates Baltimores Best Snowball Stand and we also supply and service another 9 locations that we are partnered with, to give us the flavor making and logistics scale we need to make consistent profits. We are actively searching for more locations, more partnerships, more product releases and more acquisitions in order for us to eventually turn SnOasis into a brand that has some meaning outside of our small community following.
We are most proud of the fact that we do all the big and small things right. We hire every employee and train them how to make a great product and we dont care if it costs us a few margin points to make everything that we hand out to be the best. For example, despite real marshmallow and hersheys chocolate costs going up crazy amounts, we never reduce product quantity and quality to save a few pennies, because we want you to tell everyone that your snowball or sundae or snow storm was the BEST.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The Hays family influence over flavor making, product sourcing and selection, retail selling and support, and making each customer feel welcomed, which is becoming a lost art in the days of drive throughs and doordash
Pricing:
- We could cater your parties and events for $3.50/product
- We are launching doordash friendly products that wont melt before you receive
- We are launching many products with Baltimores Best Egg Custard
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.snoasisbaltimore.com
- Instagram: @snoasis_baltimore
- Facebook: @snoasis_baltimore
