Over the past 10 years, it seems like King of Pops has exploded across Atlanta and the southeast, with their ubiquitous carts showing up at every major event and concert, especially in the warmer half of the year. This month co-owner Steven Carse expected to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of his company with an announcement that they had achieved $10 million in revenue. Instead, last week he was forced to furlough half of his workforce due to the social distancing efforts to combat COVID-19.
Businesses across the city are fighting to stay afloat in spite of the changes to the ways in which they are allowed to offer their goods and services, and like many of them, King of Pops is trying various strategies to bring in cash and keep their product circulating. These efforts include:
- Free Delivery in major southeastern cities – King of Pops fans in Atlanta, Alpharetta, Richmond, Charleston, Charlotte and Nashville can now have free, contact-less delivery of pops to their doorstep.
- King of Pops’ owners have set up a GoFundMe account where anyone can donate to send popsicles to healthcare workers. They hope to raise $25k in order to donate at least 10,000 popsicles to hospital and emergency-response workers.
- Recruiting neighborhood partners who can purchase pops at wholesale prices and sell them in their own neighborhoods.
- Accepting donations for King of Pops employees who have been furloughed.
And, in a revolutionary move toward full transparency, King of Pops, a privately-held company, will be turned into a “100 percent open book” including access to the popsicle purveyor’s weekly financial huddle. King of Pops is also going to be working on a blog and podcast to “discuss trying to survive financially as we go through this.”
Read more about King of Pops and their experiences during this new COVID-19 reality in What Now Atlanta here.
Donate to out-of-work King of Pops employees, and to their popsicle donation fund on the King of Pops website here.