OTTUMWA, Iowa – According to Greater Ottumwa Partners in Progress, the city has seen a steady increase in new small business owners over the past three years. When you think of the people opening those businesses, a teenager probably isn’t the first person that comes to mind—but there’s an 18-year-old doing just that.
If you had told Christian Vass a year ago that he’d be owning and operating his own ice cream store today, he probably wouldn’t have believed you.
“No, probably not, to be honest, but I’m glad I got it going. It’s really fun, I really enjoy this,” Christian said.
But, when the owner of the old Dairy Queen building offered to sell it to Christian for a good deal, it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Christian’s dad David Vass says says the previous owner saw video reels Christian had been making to advertise South Side Drug Store’s soda fountain, where he’d been working for years.
“This was a surprise. We didn’t know it was available until the owner came and asked us if he would be interested. So, I had him talk to Christian, and it happened. […] He saw what he was doing at the drugstore with the soda fountain, and this is kind of segue from that to this,” David said.
Several months later, the former soda jerk has officially opened Christian’s Ice Cream with help from his family.
“I thought, ‘Well, I got the opportunity,’ so I figured I’d better take it. […] Me and my dad went over it, and I’ve had money saved up from working, and my dad helped me out a little bit, too. So, we kind of went into it together,” Christian said.
Marc Roe with Greater Ottumwa Partners in Progress helps track business data for the city. He says Christian’s new business is part of a slow but steady upward trend in the city, citing a net growth of 1% to 2.5% Usually, though, those business owners are quite a bit older.
“The average age is probably somewhere between the 30 to 50 range for most business owners here in town. While we don’t specifically track that data, that seems to be the anecdotal thing that we see. Christian with the ice cream shop is definitely an anomaly, being someone that’s—again, not knowing his exact age, probably under the age of 20—there are relatively few of those that ever pop up, and he’s probably one of two, maybe three that I can think of within the last five years,” Roe said.
Anomaly or not, Christian’s dad says he’s proud of his son for taking the leap.
“It’s extraordinary; it’s what you pray for,” David said.
For Christian, though, the cherry on top is bringing good ice cream—and a smile—to his customers.
“Seeing all the people just having fun, just having a place to hang out and enjoy some ice cream treats—it really just makes me happy, seeing everybody interacting and having a good time hanging out with friends,” Christian said.
Christian’s Ice Cream is open everyday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Albia Road, across from Fareway.
Dining and Cooking