'Sweet' Is In for Brandon Marble Slab Owner, USF Student

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!" Fitting for all of us, maybe, but not necessarily for Kunal Patel, who often spends 12-hours a day making sure the rest of us get our fill.

Patel, the 26-year-old owner and manager of the newly opened Marble Slab Creamery at the Westfield Brandon mall, has been making and scooping the much-loved treat for years, meaning he’s personally sampled his own creations one too many times.

“I’m tired of ice cream!” he said.

Really?

“Maybe some strawberry shortcake once in a awhile but that’s it,” he added after second thought.

Patel said he has been working hard at the new store, which opened Jan. 21 in the mall's restaurant courtyard. Putting in a 12-hour day is the norm.

“Right now it’s me, open to close,” he said.

Patel, of Winter Haven, is no stranger to the Marble Slab Creamery franchise. He said he and family members have other locations in Winter Haven and Trinity, plus a Great American Cookie & Pretzels store in Lakeland. Both concepts are owned by NexCen Brands, Inc.

While Patel has an obviously keen business sense, he does have his eye on other career paths as well. The young proprietor said he has taken a circuitous path at college. He started studying molecular microbiology, dabbled with the idea of being of pharmacist and is currently studying IT (information technology) at the University of South Florida (USF).

His main focus now, though, is on the world of retail.

“I’m going to keep running with this,” he said of the Brandon shop, which required a $25,000 franchise fee and an agreement to provide 8 percent of all future sales to the parent company. “When I get my degree done I might do it part-time. But right now, this is where we’re going with it.”

Business is going well in Brandon, said Patel, who is excited about the great deal of foot traffic at the mall, which he called a "major area destination."

Marble Slab Creamery's ice cream is made fresh inside the store in small batches.

For the uninitiated, here’s how it works: Customers pick a flavor of ice cream, which then is plopped on a marble slab. Customers pick a topping (or two or more), which workers then fold and mash into the ice cream.

“The toppings are mixed into every bite rather than just sitting on the top,” Patel said.

Variety is the name of the game here. Ice cream flavors number about two-dozen and include everything from peanut butter to cool mint. Toppings range from gummy bears to graham crackers and M&M candies.

Sometimes, Patel admits, the ice cream and topping combinations are somewhat perplexing.

“I think the worst might be bubblegum and chocolate,” he said. “That doesn’t sound too good to me, but people like it.”