Kline’s Dairy Bar knows its niche

By Cleve Wiese

Published: May 15, 2008

When owner Kim Arehart decided to open a Kline’s Dairy Bar location in Waynesboro, she almost replaced the Staunton store’s signature “custard style” ice cream with an easier-to-produce soft serve variety.
With dairy costs up 13.5 percent over last year, according to federal statistics, and suppliers of every ilk increasing prices on an almost monthly basis, she said the prospect of a cheaper, less labor-intensive product – soft serve requires about half as much mix as its custard-style counterpart – was hard to resist.
But ultimately Arehart, 41, who has worked at Kline’s stores since age 13, stuck with what she knew.
“I couldn’t turn my back on the Kline’s tradition,” she said Thursday. “This is our niche, we understand it, and we’ve gotten very good at it. Anybody can open up an ice cream shop, but you need that niche, you need a specialty.”
Though popular in some parts of the Midwest, particularly Milwaukee, the custard-style confection – also known as continuous freeze ice cream – is a rarity in Virginia and most of the United States. Arehart said she only knows of one other company in the commonwealth currently producing it.
In soft serve or batch methods of production, ice cream mix is churned for long periods of time, fluffing the final product before it’s frozen and served, Arehart said. But continuous freeze ice cream is churned and frozen simultaneously, as it passes through a super-cold, foot-and-a-half long tube – a process that only takes about two minutes from start to finish. Less aeration means denser ice cream, Arehart said. It also means more milk, fruit and flavoring in every cup or cone. And more expense.
But customers say the extra investment comes through in the taste.
“Soft serve seems more watery,” said Caitlin Kelly, 14. “This is thicker and just tastes a lot better.”
To make up for the higher overhead, the Kline’s business model has always focused on high volume, speed and simplicity to keep lines moving and prices low, Arehart said. The store’s streamlined menu features only three flavors at a time: chocolate, vanilla, and a rotating special. 
It’s an approach with a long history of success: Kline’s Frozen Custard first opened in 1943 in Harrisonburg, Arehart said. Her brother, Mike Arehart, bought the business in 1979 at the age of 19, and a year later Kim Arehart, 13 at the time, started working for him. Although she spent a few years after college as an accountant, she returned to the family business in 1997, opening a new location in Staunton. While she and her brother own their respective Kline’s stores separately, they use the same recipes and techniques, and have very similar menus, she said.
About a year ago, Arehart started thinking about opening a new store. Potential sites included Charlottesville and Blacksburg, but she ultimately settled on Waynesboro. After opening its doors a week ago, the store is already selling more ice cream than its Staunton counterpart, she said.
The prime location – right across the street from Waynesboro High School – might have something to do with the early success, customers say.
“I come here every day after school,” said Taylor Clark, 14.
Arehart said she plans on further capitalizing on the school’s proximity by adding coffee to the menu in the fall.
And while the rising price of ingredients continues to eat into her bottom line, she said an uncertain economy might actually work in her favor.
“I’m concerned people won’t have as much disposable income because they’re spending it all at the gas pump,” Arehart said. “But if they’re staying closer town and looking for entertainment or an affordable treat, then that will actually help us.”