Business Spotlight: Checking in with Soft Swerve
Jason Liu, co-owner of Soft Swerve
Blog by Courtney Adams, Photos by Kat St. Martin
Ice cream has a purpose. Unquestionably, part of that purpose is to make our taste buds dance--a crescendo in the symphony that is good, comforting food. But for Jason Liu and Michael Tsang, owners of Soft Swerve, that purpose is rooted in community, with a success that’s been nurtured as recipients of Welcome to Chinatown’s Longevity Fund.
Soft Swerve
85B Bayard St
85 Allen St.
There is just something intangible about the draw of ice cream--in all of its iterations--that make it a thing so universally sought. And, this search is at the foundation of Soft Swerve’s growth. At the onslaught of the pandemic, Jason remembered how Welcome to Chinatown distributed food to healthcare workers. “They contacted us,” he recalled. “They were reaching out to new vendors; and, we very happily agreed. We were able to make a small profit, which was beneficial to the restaurant; and in turn, this partnership was also beneficial to deserving healthcare workers.”
Jason’s and Michael’s ice cream sonata began in 2016 with the opening of their Lower East Side location. It really is pretty apropos that Jason and Michael are Longevity Fund recipients. Being in business in New York City for six years is an accomplishment on its own; but, this life-long Northeasterner can’t help but think doing so as ice cream restaurateurs is as magnificent as the product they serve. For real. I didn’t know I could love Thai iced tea more if I tried. Then, I had it in ice cream form at Soft Swerve. It is nothing short of perfect.
Speaking of perfection, the name itself is a pretty impeccable way to thread their product into their title. “Soft Swerve was Mike’s doing,” Jason recalled with a chuckle. “I am not as creative as he is in that department! But, he wanted something that rolled off the tongue--something close to what the product is. And, with time and familiarity, you can easily get the two phrases, ‘Soft Serve’ and ‘Soft Swerve’ tangled into one intentional piece.”
Business owners in New York City don’t grow into five locations without such intentionality. As the duo’s operations guru, I’ve a feeling this is something Jason knows much about. “Making improvements for the store, making our store more efficient--that makes me happy,” Jason stated with a smile. “But, as any business owner knows, even with such efficiencies, things can still be unpredictable.” Clearly not one to be easily thwarted, Jason matter-of-factly shared, “I like the fact that every day is different. Of course, you have your set of things that you do every day. But, as small business owners, we wear many hats. And because of this, there always seems to be a new challenge. For instance, things break every day, and we have to fix it. When no two days are alike, it makes things interesting!”
All symphonies are known for their slower second movements; and, perhaps for Jason and Michael it was more…adagio…than they’d have planned. When asked to share the timeline of the Soft Swerve story, Jason did so, sharing, “We were thrilled to sign our lease for our second location in Kips Bay in December of 2019.” I braced myself a bit knowing the timeline that was to come. “And then, we were scheduled to do a grand opening launch the third week of March, 2020. That was the week the city locked down.” Perhaps sensing I was holding my breath a bit, he excitedly shared, “The Kips Bay location is still in business--thanks to Welcome to Chinatown’s Longevity Fund!”
And therein lies the communal inspiration behind their growth. “After helping Welcome to Chinatown’s project feeding healthcare workers, they suggested we apply to the Longevity Fund. We did; and, thankfully, we [were granted]. Using those funds helped us expand our flavor offerings beyond soft serve to scooped flavors. Due to the previous size of our machines, we were only able to produce four flavors at any given time. There would always be customers upset when they’d want a previous flavor; but, we had to rotate.” I’ve been to the store when they’d run out of my Thai iced tea ice cream--so that disappointment is one I can commiserate with--but only a tad (there’s never a shortage of other ice cream goodness to try).
With tangible humility and gratitude, Jason continued, “Receiving the Longevity Fund grant gave us the ability to buy the equipment and space needed to expand our offerings. We bought what we needed to make more ice cream, as well as the dipping cabinet where our hard ice cream is stored. But beyond that, we needed to renovate our counters, too, because the original store wasn’t configured for these offerings. The Longevity Fund allowed us to do all of that.”
Of course, great websites can speak life into the meaning of the word longevity--a reality Jason and Mike know well. “When we won the second round of the Longevity Fund, we used the money for our website. We were finally able to upgrade our website, which led to the start of our catering business. Because the website is now properly tuned, we have been able to organically bring in a lot of catering events. Thanks to the Longevity Fund, we were equipped to hire a company to streamline and maximize the efficacy and efficiency of our website.”
The resources provided by Soft Swerve’s Longevity Fund grant allowed Jason and Mike to begin a fruitful catering business, as well as meet new consumer behaviors in the onslaught of Covid. Recalls Jason, “Our catering services got smarter. We offer pre-packed frozen ice cream in coolers. With Covid, people were worried about outside contact. Now, our cups are pre-portioned, frozen and capped; and, we just provide the catering toppings, utensils and the ice cream itself.” Speaking of efficiency, grab ‘n go ice cream sounds like a joyfully delicious way to do so.
When asked about the impact Covid had on Soft Swerve, with an almost imperceptible change in octave, Jason recalled,
“Well, we closed during quarantine and didn’t reopen until we began volunteering with Welcome to Chinatown. It wasn’t until Vic reached out that we had a purpose again and reopened.We are very grateful to Welcome to Chinatown for getting us out of a really rough spot. For Welcome to Chinatown to give us a purpose again, we’re just forever thankful. For all Vic has done, for all that the organization has done, we are just so thankful. At the point of quarantine, we were literally sitting at the door with a register and we’d wait for people to come by! Welcome to Chinatown got us to where we are now, through all of those rough patches.”
All symphonies have those slower moments, requiring the listener’s understanding that, with patience, the movement will take you somewhere great. “In 2023, we opened three new stores,” shared Jason joyfully. “At the end of December of 2022, we opened our Flushing location at Tangram Food Hall. We now have a location in Chinatown proper on Bayard Street, which opened in May of 2023. And, we opened our Brooklyn location at Dekalb Market in mid-July of 2023.”
To say that the last few years have been a rollercoaster is an understatement. “Covid was a dark time in so many ways,” Jason said. “Everything was completely shut down. For us, that meant our work shut down, too. There was no ice cream shop to go to. We were just sitting at home in our heads. So, whenever Welcome to Chinatown would ask for volunteers, we’d go.” In sharing these reflections, the relief Jason and Mike felt then was palpable. “Early on, Welcome to Chinatown wanted to ensure the elderly in the community were able to get food. I remember they asked us if we could go to the basement of one of the bars that were shut down; and, we’d go and pack bags of vegetables for senior citizens. Anything we could do that was a positive thing, we would do. It was an active way to do something helpful; and, it got us out of that bad head space. Welcome to Chinatown really got the ball rolling to create something positive for those who, like us, were perhaps facing some dark moments.”
For many small business owners, many days may feel as though survival is the only name of the game. When asked what advice he’d share to those who may be in the midst of such a season, Jason shared, “I think it’s very important to learn your operations. Especially at the beginning! Everything is expensive; you’re not sure what things may cost you, so you have to be able to learn quickly. Now, I’m not even talking revenue wise, but from the focus of expenses. If you learn how to do things in-house, you have to think about the timing. If you outsource things, you have to ensure you get the right people, or risk possibly getting overcharged. If you can know the limitations of your business, you can plan to see how you can get out of those limitations using yourself as your best asset.” Now, with four locations, it’s safe to say that Jason and Mike have that understanding in spades.
When we enjoy a symphony, we’re not enjoying a singular instrument. No, no. We are enjoying the sum of many--all of whom lift one another up, who bring out the best in one another to make something beautiful. Such is the journey of a symphony; and, the best ones always have a story to tell. Go to Soft Swerve and try their ice cream. When you do, something tells me that you, too, will agree that the Soft Swerve sonata will long be enjoying a beautiful crescendo.
