When Lina Qu arrived in Ottawa from China two decades ago, she had little idea what was in store — or how sweet it would be.
“I arrived in Canada 20 years ago with two bags and no relationships as an international student,” she recalled. “I graduated from the University of Ottawa and, two years later, I opened my first Baskin-Robbins.”
Qu says it was her first bite of pralines and cream that made her realize she wanted to build a career in the ice cream industry.
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“I just want to be my own boss but, the thing is, I don’t have my own products to sell. Baskin-Robbins is a good brand, existing for 80 years. From the first bite, I felt I could make money here. I asked all franchisees who would want to sell their store and nobody wanted to sell. I decided to open a new one in Kanata. That was 12 years ago,” Qu said.
International student Ronnie Liu also arrived from China 20 years ago. He began working part-time at the Baskin-Robbins on Meadowlands Drive while attending the University of Ottawa for engineering.
After graduating from university, Liu tried his hand at a career in software engineering, but after seven years he realized his passion lay in customer service.
In 2016, Liu bought his first Baskin-Robbins store; the Meadowlands location where he got his part-time job in 2005. It was there that he met Qu.
Liu would go on to buy two other locations on his own: 2020 Lanthier Rd. in Orleans and 1500 Bank St. near Alta Vista.
He says he was overjoyed the day the operations manager called him with the news about an ambitious long-term plan that Baskin-Robbins wanted to offer him.
“My operations manager called me and said, ‘Okay, Ronnie, we have a big plan to expand Baskin-Robbins’ business in Ottawa, are you interested?’ and I said yes. I talked to Lina as well, because she’s my best friend, and we had a long conversation with Baskin-Robbins and got the deal,” Liu said.
Now, the two are embarking on a 10-year journey to open 10 Baskin-Robbins locations in Ottawa. In 2022, they opened the first new location in Barrhaven and last week opened a second new location in Westboro. They already have plans for a third location in Riverside South, slated to open next summer.
“Baskin-Robbins drew us a big map, from Brockville to Rockland and then Smith Falls, and even looked at new stores in the Gatineau area on the Quebec side. It’s going to be a long journey, but I really enjoy it,” Liu told OBJ.
It’s not difficult to see why the company thought Liu and Qu were the right people for the job. Qu calls her friend a hard-working person – and it’s no joke.
Liu admits he works seven days a week, 365 days a year. His sales doubled a few years after buying his first store, a testament to his hard work and excellent customer service.
“I like to chat to customers. I like to do any and all activities with my communities so that makes me a lot of friends from the business and I am very happy doing this business. I think this is going to be my career for the rest of my life,” Liu said.
The new locations will showcase the brand’s new “moments” store design, which includes updated seating and interior design, digital menus and a colourful wall mural set up as the perfect selfie spot for Instagram-worthy pictures.
One of the other new features is an extended cake display, a product that sells incredibly well, according to Liu and Qu.
“I joined a lot of training classes to learn the skills to make the cakes. I learned this for the business because I realized there’s a lot of customers that want ice cream cakes with fancy designs that they cannot find anywhere else. So that’s why we offer the customer any design they want,” Liu said.
Qu says working at an ice cream shop is a sweet deal for its cleanliness and great colleagues.
“It’s a very clean environment and it’s easy to find employees for us because high school students are most likely finding their first job. It’s also a very community-friendly store. Those are some of the things I’ve enjoyed,” Qu said.
Liu says a prevailing love of ice cream is his reason for jumping headfirst into the industry.
“My mom is a big fan of ice cream. So when I decided to buy the Baskin-Robbins store, my mom was really happy. I also realized that Canadians love ice cream and we (Liu and Qu) both love making ice cream cakes. We have a good team,” he said.
After all these years, Liu and Qu are still marvelling at the good fortune of working together at a place they both love.
“That was my first job in my life and I knew then it would be my last,” Liu said.
