5. Scoop Shops >
5.1 PartnerShops
The PartnerShop Program
PartnerShops are Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops that are owned and operated by youth-serving nonprofit organizations. Ben & Jerry’s waives the traditional franchise and royalty fees for PartnerShops and provides customized training to support the unique needs of these social enterprises. In turn, PartnerShops offer youth facing barriers to employment a unique opportunity for developing job skills. All proceeds from PartnerShops flow back to the parent nonprofit to support social programs. Read all the most up-to-date information on our website.
In 2005, five new PartnerShops opened their doors. These PartnerShops are independently owned & operated by the following nonprofit organizations:
- Friends of Youth in Seattle, WA
- Lifeworks in Austin, TX
- YWCA of Ft. Worth, TX
- Goodwill of Detroit, MI
- Cresco in Belfast, Northern Ireland
On the other side of the ledger, four PartnerShops ceased operations in 2005. Juma Ventures, one of our long-time partners, decided to close their two remaining PartnerShops in 2005. Juma sold the Haight-Ashbury PartnerShop to a local San Francisco Bay area franchisee and closed the Castro Shop, which had reached the end 
of its ten-year lease. Though we’re sad to see these PartnerShops disappear, we’re excited that Juma will continue their relationship with Ben & Jerry’s as they focus on expanding their ballpark business model. Currently, Juma operates the Ben & Jerry’s concession at Candlestick Park and AT&T Park in San Francisco and is in negotiation with the Oakland Coliseum about vending in the stadium in 2006. These stadium operations provide employment and training opportunities for Juma Ventures participants that support the organization’s mission, much as Juma’s PartnerShops did.
The Evanston, Illinois, PartnerShop was sold by The Youth Job Center to a local Chicago area franchisee. The Chicago Children’s Choir decided to close their downtown Chicago location due to shifting organizational priorities and unmet business projections.
At the end of 2005, Ben & Jerry’s had twelve PartnerShops in operation in the U.S., two in Northern Ireland, and one in Israel.
2005 PartnerShop Program Highlights
By the numbers, we had some notable successes in 2005.
- 342 youth graduated from PartnerShop job training programs
- The average shop evaluation was 93/100
- Three PartnerShops reported an annual increase in sales from 2004
We also made good progress on implementing the PartnerShop program goals we articulated at the end of 2004. First, we moved away from aggressively recruiting new partners in order to focus our 
energies on helping our existing partners operate strong businesses. Second, we increased the level of support for our partners through quarterly teleconferences centered on best practices in the areas of operations, financial management & youth job training; more frequent check-in calls from the field support team; and a new manager-mentor program that connects traditional franchise shop managers with PartnerShop managers. We did not hire an additional PartnerShop staff member to provide support from Company headquarters, as called for in our 2004 goals. Nevertheless, the changes that we did implement in 2005 led to significant progress among our partners in terms of improved operational & financial management.
After more than 25 years in the “PartnerShop business” we remain committed to these social enterprises and the notion that business has the power to transform communities and help solve social problems. At the same time, we have seen enough PartnerShops open and close over the years to understand the enormous risk that accompanies these ventures. We will continue working with our partners to find ways to reduce the risks wherever possible and produce more positive outcomes for our PartnerShops across all dimensions.
Looking ahead to 2006, our goals for the PartnerShop program are:
- To train 400-plus youth in our PartnerShops;
- To continue to provide several layers of business management support to each of our PartnerShops, including quarterly business/marketing consultations with each PartnerShop operator;
- To maintain the refined set of criteria for PartnerShop applicants and restrict development of new PartnerShops to four target markets in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles & Miami;
- To see continued improvement in the financial and social outcomes for our PartnerShop operators.