Denver’s Little Man Ice Cream FoCo Dreams Get Melted by Its Own Coolness

Everybody loves ice cream, but rules are rules. A great ice cream shop out of Denver was looking to come to Fort Collins to build their second location; but discovered that what makes them so cool, is what keeps them from selling scoops here.

Little Man Ice Cream has just one location, in Denver. It’s a really neat establishment, most notably, because of it being inside a giant cream can. People line up for a half-block, waiting to get to the window and order their favorite Little Man flavors. Plus, with every scoop sold, the company donates a scoop of rice or grain to communities in need across the world! Who wouldn’t want them to open up their second location here in Northern Colorado? Well, Fort Collins, for one.

Back at the end of 2013 they announced that Little Man was looking to come to The Choice City. Here we are over a year later, and the deal is all but dead. No ice cream for you, FoCo! The long and short of the problem is that their GIANT, 28 FOOT TALL CREAM CAN is out of code for Fort Collins. The city decided long ago, that they didn't want businesses coming in and putting up big, tacky signs. Turns out, the Little Man can, is a big sign, according to the code. It’s way too big of a sign to be allowed. Bummer.

Plus, they wanted to build their new can in a really hard location- right next to a historic landmark- the Museum of Art. If they were to get passed their ‘sign code’ issue, they’d still have to make it ‘blend in’ with the museum. Good grief, we just want some ice cream!

My first thought is, why didn’t someone give these guys a ‘heads-up’ about the sign code before they even started the paperwork and blew through $8,000? Second, how did they ever pick that spot? Even I could have told them that the museum was going to be a problem. Maybe I need to be on a list somewhere: “What does Dave think of all this?”

When you read how Little Man’s owner Paul Tamburello has had a lot of luck ‘refurbishing’ old buildings in Denver to become new and successful businesses (even a mortuary), you’d think he might have tried that here. But then, it probably wouldn’t end up looking cool- like a giant cream can!

I hear Loveland loves ice cream….. I wonder what their code is?

[Source: The Coloradoan]