A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
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Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#2So are the "threats and intimidation that sometimes get physical" purely due to ice cream sales, or are there illicit goods also being sold from the vans (as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Ice_Cream_Wars )?
Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#3So are the "threats and intimidation that sometimes get physical" purely due to ice cream sales, or are there illicit goods also being sold from the vans (as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Ice_Cream_Wars )?
Location is a serious thing in NYC for vendors. If someone moves within 10 feet of you, imagine your daily revenue cut in half.
Sometimes vendors will informally buy locations from other vendors.
Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#4This seems amazingly over-the-top. I get that it's their living, but I'm amazed there hasn't been some sort of resolution (e.g. giving out a fixed number of licenses like they do with cabs). People threatening to kill each other and cutting brake lines, etc. sounds like something that would've been tolerated in 70s and 80s New York, but not present day.
Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#5I've lived in NYC my entire life, and I've never even heard of New York Ice Cream. Mr. Softee's has always been the dominant (and singular) soft-serve truck.
Interesting that someone is challenging their dominance, although I doubt this will play out as well as the dollar-pizza wars for the average pedestrian.
Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#6So are the "threats and intimidation that sometimes get physical" purely due to ice cream sales, or are there illicit goods also being sold from the vans (as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_Ice_Cream_Wars )?
Location is a serious thing in NYC for vendors. If someone moves within 10 feet of you, imagine your daily revenue cut in half. Sometimes vendors will informally buy locations from other vendors.
Setting up shop directly next to your competitor is the best choice, i.e., Nash equilibrium. That's why all the gas stations and coffee shops cluster up instead of spreading out.
For example, on a beach, you should expect 2 ice cream vendors to cluster in the exact middle rather than move closer to their respective territories. This video explains it perfectly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jILgxeNBK_8
Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#7I've lived in NYC my entire life, and I've never even heard of New York Ice Cream. Mr. Softee's has always been the dominant (and singular) soft-serve truck. Interesting that someone is challenging their dominance, although I doubt this will play out as well as the dollar-pizza wars for the average pedestrian.
The real NYC pizza war: http://kottke.org/11/04/the-mafia-and-nyc-pizza-cheese
Al Capone -- who owned a string of dairy farms near Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin -- forced New York pizzerias to use his rubbery mob cheese, so different from the real mozzarella [...] this is why John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street still has the warning "No Slices" on its awning today.
Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#8Sounds ripe for "Uber for Ice-cream". Pull out your phone and the truck comes to you.
Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#9> Mr. Conway said Mister Softee had not sought legal remedy for the bullying. “It’s just the way it is,” he said. “Life on the street.”
What? What the fuck? These are ice cream trucks, not drug dealers. Why aren't they protecting their employees? If it's as bad as they say, all they'd need is a few security cameras and the police could start making arrests.
Re: A Renegade Muscles in on Mister Softee’s Turf
#10So this isn't about Microsoft's turf on the PC being challenged by mobile.