Sno Biz opening new location in Seymour

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In Seymour, there’s no biz like Sno Biz.

Neal Rose has high hopes with bringing a global brand to the city, offering 50 hand-crafted flavors of shaved ice with more than 100 flavor combinations.

“Shaved ice is a treat,” he said. “It’s something special, and most people, they are in a good mood when they are going to have it and they are just relaxed, and that’s what I want. I want the relaxing environment.”

In early August, Rose plans to open Sno Biz at 1019½ E. Tipton St. in a shed building behind Busy Bee Liquors. Hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The official opening date will be announced on the Sno Biz of Seymour Facebook page.

“We’ve had a huge response from Facebook,” Rose said.

Sno Biz was established in 1989 when Tom and Kris Novetzke cashed in everything they owned to start a shaved ice business in Minnesota, according to snobiz.com.

They discovered they had a knack for helping others with a similar entrepreneur spirit to be successful to grow a profitable Sno Biz shaved ice operation. “Having a quality product with excellent service” is still their motto today.

As they grew and added new operators to the Sno Biz family, they also added more products to their menu, including Sno blended coffees, slushes and smoothies. Tom also added cotton candy to the menu after a Sno Biz operator said their powdered flavors made the best cotton candy they had ever tasted.

In 2008, Sno Biz was booming, so they added their daughter, Kate, to the business for sales and marketing. Then their sons, Tommy and Ryan, joined in on the fun, and a marketing guru and a production manager were added.

“With our proprietary dry powder flavor system, which is hand-crafted in small batches, we expect only the freshest ingredients to flavor our Sno,” the website states. “Our customers know our success because they want to be a part of Sno Biz, and we welcome them with blue tongues.”

Rose decided shaved ice was the next thing to add to the family’s company, Rose Family Companies LLC. Their other businesses are grass cutting and landscaping, sheds and inflatables.

Rose said the idea first came up a couple of years ago, but they put it off, and then the COVID-19 pandemic started.

They had been using a shed to store building material but wanted to do something different with it.

On March 30, though, Rose went in for neck surgery and 3 minutes into it went into cardiac arrest, died and had to be revived.

After that, he knew he needed to slow down some.

“It’s just something that I feel like during the summer, it’s going to be slower, it’s simple,” Rose said of starting Sno Biz.

Once he was able to move forward with his business plan, Rose and his crew have been working hard to get the shed remodeled and build a deck for outdoor seating, and he ordered equipment and supplies and obtained all of the necessary permits.

This year, he plans to remain open through November with six employees and just focus on shaved ice, slushes and soda.

There are sugar-free flavors, and sour, chocolate and crème toppings can be added to the hand-crafted flavors or Bizzy’s Specials flavor combinations.

Sno Biz has three sides to its business: Shaved ice, ice cream and food products.

“We are carrying the shaved ice line, no ice cream this year,” Rose said. “I don’t know how far we’ll go (with the product line). I know we’ll have shaved ice (this year) and ice cream (next year).”

When he reopens in March 2022, Rose plans to add the soft serve ice cream line. Flavors can be added to that, too, and there will be a special one each day. Candy and candy bars also can be added.

“Next year, we will take it to the next level, and while we’re closed down over the winter, (the back part of the shed) will become the ice cream line,” Rose said.

The family also has purchased inflatables, tents, tables and chairs and plans to go mobile with Sno Biz to set up at events.

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