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RAFIK ABELIAN, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY STORIES: ARMENIAN MATH WHIZ NOW AN ICE CREAM ENTREPRENEUR
By KIRSTEN FAIRCHILD
Santa Cruz Sentinel
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_20002932
Feb 20 2012
CA
SANTA CRUZ -- When Rafik Abelian was growing up, his ice cream choices
were limited to chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.
Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, Abelian also could only enjoy
ice cream in the summertime, the only time of year it was available.
Now 54, Abelian has truly broadened his ice cream horizons. In 2003
he opened a Cold Stone Creamery store on Pacific Avenue. As part of a
franchise, Abelian has eight flavors of ice cream that he must make
fresh daily, but there are between 100 and 150 additional flavors
that he can select to be made as well.
"What I'm eating the most of right now is a combination of dark
chocolate and coffee ice creams with walnuts, pecans and almonds
swirled together -- yum, yum, yum," said Abelian, a Scotts Valley
resident.
Opening and operating an ice cream franchise was a career move Abelian
never anticipated.
His affinity for mathematics was what brought him to the U.S. at the
age of 21, but he left Cal Poly Pomona a few credits shy of earning
his degree in industrial engineering to take an entry-level position
at Silicon Systems, Inc.
He was transferred from the company's Tustin-based wafer-fabrication
plant to one on Santa Cruz's Westside in 1995. Texas Instruments
bought Silicon Systems in 1997, and when the plant closed in late 2001,
Abelian held the title of planning manager.
Abelian turned down an offer to transfer within the company to remain
in the area. Unable to find similar
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work, Abelian began to contemplate changing careers. When a friend
suggested he open a Cold Stone Creamery store, Abelian didn't even
know what she was talking about.
"The former Watsonville store hadn't opened then, so I had never
heard of it," Abelian said. "But then just a few days later my wife
and I happened to be at the Great Mall in Milpitas, and there was a
Cold Stone Creamery. I thought it was the best thing ever."
Founded in 1988 by Donald and Susan Sutherland, Cold Stone Creamery
began as one store in Tempe, Ariz. The franchise is known for its
freshly made ice cream that has "mix-ins" consisting of dry and/or
wet toppings folded into it. The toppings are mixed together on top
of a 5-foot-long frozen granite stone.
"Any mix-in that goes into the ice cream, whether it is bananas
or strawberries or walnuts or chocolate chips, should have its own
flavor," Abelian said. "We want a freshly roasted almond in chocolate
ice cream to still be crunchy and taste like a freshly roasted almond
while the ice cream tastes like chocolate. That's what makes our ice
cream so good."
BOX: GETTING TO KNOW Rafik Abelian
ESSENTIALS: A Scotts Valley resident, Abelian, 54, was born in Yerevan,
Armenia. Moved to the U.S. at 21. Married since 1987 to his wife
Magdalena. Has a daughter Karla Rodriguez, 32, who lives in Texas
with her family; son Jonathan, 24, lives in Scotts Valley. Opened
his Cold Stone Creamery store in 2003.
HOBBIES: Plays Sudoku, chess and mahjong. Listens to the Eagles,
Jim Croce and James Taylor.
NIGHTLY DESSERT GROWING UP: Fruit
FAVORITE FRUIT: Bananas
ON WORKING downtown: 'Pacific Avenue is the Times Square of Santa
Cruz. It's just so alive and vibrant. It's never boring. Some people
don't like it, but I'm happy to walk around and enjoy the other
businesses. It's worked for me.'
NEWEST MENU ADDITION: 'We just started blueberry-pomegranate frozen
yogurt. On Monday we made raspberry frozen yogurt for the first time.
I haven't even tried it yet.'
TOP-SELLING SIGNATURE CREATION: Birthday Cake Remix: cake batter ice
cream with rainbow sprinkles, brownie and fudge.
WHAT'S TAPED ABOVE HIS DESK: A June 12, 2008 receipt for $24.50. 'A
90-pound UCSC student came in and ordered a large ice cream with every
single mix-in we had out. We had 29. We had to serve it to him in a
half-gallon container. He sat down and ate the whole thing. It was
a dare. He came back a year later and told me that he was so sick
after he left. I thought he might have been.'
WHY NEW YEAR'S EVE REVELERS LOVE HIM: 'We usually stay open until 2
a.m. This year, we stayed open to 3 a.m.'
ABELIAN'S COLD STONE CREAMERY STORE: 1129 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz.
Call 423-7015.
By KIRSTEN FAIRCHILD
Santa Cruz Sentinel
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_20002932
Feb 20 2012
CA
SANTA CRUZ -- When Rafik Abelian was growing up, his ice cream choices
were limited to chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.
Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, Abelian also could only enjoy
ice cream in the summertime, the only time of year it was available.
Now 54, Abelian has truly broadened his ice cream horizons. In 2003
he opened a Cold Stone Creamery store on Pacific Avenue. As part of a
franchise, Abelian has eight flavors of ice cream that he must make
fresh daily, but there are between 100 and 150 additional flavors
that he can select to be made as well.
"What I'm eating the most of right now is a combination of dark
chocolate and coffee ice creams with walnuts, pecans and almonds
swirled together -- yum, yum, yum," said Abelian, a Scotts Valley
resident.
Opening and operating an ice cream franchise was a career move Abelian
never anticipated.
His affinity for mathematics was what brought him to the U.S. at the
age of 21, but he left Cal Poly Pomona a few credits shy of earning
his degree in industrial engineering to take an entry-level position
at Silicon Systems, Inc.
He was transferred from the company's Tustin-based wafer-fabrication
plant to one on Santa Cruz's Westside in 1995. Texas Instruments
bought Silicon Systems in 1997, and when the plant closed in late 2001,
Abelian held the title of planning manager.
Abelian turned down an offer to transfer within the company to remain
in the area. Unable to find similar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
work, Abelian began to contemplate changing careers. When a friend
suggested he open a Cold Stone Creamery store, Abelian didn't even
know what she was talking about.
"The former Watsonville store hadn't opened then, so I had never
heard of it," Abelian said. "But then just a few days later my wife
and I happened to be at the Great Mall in Milpitas, and there was a
Cold Stone Creamery. I thought it was the best thing ever."
Founded in 1988 by Donald and Susan Sutherland, Cold Stone Creamery
began as one store in Tempe, Ariz. The franchise is known for its
freshly made ice cream that has "mix-ins" consisting of dry and/or
wet toppings folded into it. The toppings are mixed together on top
of a 5-foot-long frozen granite stone.
"Any mix-in that goes into the ice cream, whether it is bananas
or strawberries or walnuts or chocolate chips, should have its own
flavor," Abelian said. "We want a freshly roasted almond in chocolate
ice cream to still be crunchy and taste like a freshly roasted almond
while the ice cream tastes like chocolate. That's what makes our ice
cream so good."
BOX: GETTING TO KNOW Rafik Abelian
ESSENTIALS: A Scotts Valley resident, Abelian, 54, was born in Yerevan,
Armenia. Moved to the U.S. at 21. Married since 1987 to his wife
Magdalena. Has a daughter Karla Rodriguez, 32, who lives in Texas
with her family; son Jonathan, 24, lives in Scotts Valley. Opened
his Cold Stone Creamery store in 2003.
HOBBIES: Plays Sudoku, chess and mahjong. Listens to the Eagles,
Jim Croce and James Taylor.
NIGHTLY DESSERT GROWING UP: Fruit
FAVORITE FRUIT: Bananas
ON WORKING downtown: 'Pacific Avenue is the Times Square of Santa
Cruz. It's just so alive and vibrant. It's never boring. Some people
don't like it, but I'm happy to walk around and enjoy the other
businesses. It's worked for me.'
NEWEST MENU ADDITION: 'We just started blueberry-pomegranate frozen
yogurt. On Monday we made raspberry frozen yogurt for the first time.
I haven't even tried it yet.'
TOP-SELLING SIGNATURE CREATION: Birthday Cake Remix: cake batter ice
cream with rainbow sprinkles, brownie and fudge.
WHAT'S TAPED ABOVE HIS DESK: A June 12, 2008 receipt for $24.50. 'A
90-pound UCSC student came in and ordered a large ice cream with every
single mix-in we had out. We had 29. We had to serve it to him in a
half-gallon container. He sat down and ate the whole thing. It was
a dare. He came back a year later and told me that he was so sick
after he left. I thought he might have been.'
WHY NEW YEAR'S EVE REVELERS LOVE HIM: 'We usually stay open until 2
a.m. This year, we stayed open to 3 a.m.'
ABELIAN'S COLD STONE CREAMERY STORE: 1129 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz.
Call 423-7015.