Michelle T.
Yelp
This Creamistry location is problematic.
My husband and I went last night, the first time since before the pandemic started, and it was really disappointing.
First, let me begin by saying I work in a fast-paced, customer facing role in my own profession, so I am more than happy to give grace and space when it comes to businesses who are swamped with customers and having to fulfill orders in a quick manner while people are looking on and waiting. That being said, it was incredibly busy. The store was jam-packed full of people. I am not sure of what their occupancy was, but it had to have been really close to capacity. It was chaotic, confusing and uncomfortable.
When you walked in, you had no idea where the line started. Customers were standing around and you would have to ask another customer where the line began. To add more of an obstacle to the already limited space in the store, there are 3 large, empty liquid nitrogen tanks taking up space where people could be more safely spaced. I get the idea of having 1 empty tank for display, but 3 empty tanks just sitting there looks like they are waiting to be picked up and they don't have space in their back of house. It's a bad look.
While there are social distancing circles on the floor, those are completely disregarded by customers. They look shopworn, like they've been there for a long time and they are really raggedy. Even for non-COVID times, I'd say the density of people in the store was a lot. A few customers were wearing masks, but I'd say 80% of them were mask-less, which is even more incentive to safely space people apart.
My recommendation to this Creamistry would be to have 1 or even 2 employees work the door and the line to ensure that the place 1.) Doesn't become so packed with people that it is alarming and 2.) That people are clearly oriented to where the line begins. When we placed our orders, there was no place to wait but by the door smooshed in by the large nitrogen tanks, so I took it upon myself to direct people who had just walked in to direct them to the beginning of the line. That is how chaotic and disorganized this felt. I think by having employees work the door and line, you'll find that people have a better overall experience. We do this at my job as well and it greatly enhances the quality of the interaction. People will gladly wait when you communicate what is going on. They could even have iPads to take people's order in line while they wait. It's really that simple.
Now onto the actual order we placed. My husband ordered a large- he got a small (he was charged for the small as well as we found out on the receipt) but maybe if it wasn't so chaotic in the store there would have been better communication. The ice cream itself it great! Creamy and rich! The toppings however and the execution of the order is poor. I got the Strawberry Bond and the cheesecake bites were lackluster, like maybe they had been left in the fridge too long and there was no strawberry sundae drizzle on my ice cream like the picture indicated.
Only half the staff cared to wear a mask and they all looked like they showed up spur-of-the moment in their street clothes, you know like hoodies and things you really shouldn't wear when preparing food (hello drawstrings). Not the look you want when people are working with food. The area behind the counter was messy and disorganized and the waiting area was dirty. I noticed some of the color transitioning LED lights were out and it was just all around cringe. The pint freezer was storing some random boxes not pints and everything looked like it had been not well-maintained.
I would implore the owners of this place to go wait in the disorganized chaos and experience it from the customer perspective and ask yourself if this is really what you want to give your customers? Creamistry is a great idea and I know it's capable of being so much better. I had been to the (I guess now closed) locations on Greenville Ave and in Southlake and had great experiences there. Our experience at this one was just awful all the way around and the only reason I even give it 2 stars is because the ice cream itself is delicious and there is potential to turn things around.
I believe in Creamistry as I know it can be awesome- but this location does not show the idea the care it needs. Sure, you'll have lines of people for a while, but eventually people will get turned off by the disappointment.
