King Kone Has Soft Re-Opening as Worker Co-Op

Mayor Peter Marchetti gets a cone from Patrick Doyle on Friday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Ice cream is again being swirled into cones and cups at a long-beloved city spot.

King Kone had a soft opening at the end of the week, offering the frozen treats on a "pay what you will" basis while employees perfected the craft.

"It's gone pretty good," employee Patrick Doyle said.

"It gets really fast-paced even with a few customers and the learning curve is steeper than I thought but other than that it's been fun so far and I really am doing this because I believe in you know the cooperative ownership, working class struggle."

He has a full-time job but made time in his schedule to be a part of this.

Nonprofit Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds purchased the property and the shop will run as a workers' co-op. Everyone is paid a flat wage, sharing revenues, and will have the opportunity to buy into the business.

"It's about transparent decision making, cooperative negotiation for decisions, conflicts," co-founder Michael Hitchcock said.

"Skills about how to think like an owner instead of an employee, like taking responsibility for the whole operation and understanding that any action you do commits everyone else's time and resources so you have to be cognizant of the others. Those are the kinds of skills we'll be working on in our monthly meetings. That's our next big hurdle."

In 2023, the nonprofit was allocated $179,000 to purchase the soft-serve ice cream shop at 133 Fenn St. and convert it into a worker cooperative. It owns a series of storefronts ranging from 117 to 129 Fenn St.

The Barbarotta family closed the shop's order and pickup windows for the last time at the end of the 2023 season as they prepared to sell.  

Hitchcock said a formal grand opening may happen next week.

"We own the other half of this building where we run our food pantry, totally free food and clothes for anybody, bilingual service, no means testing. Anyone can come," he said.

"While we were filling out a grant with the state to improve a space over there, I kept seeing the word 'building acquisition,' and this person had been joking about selling it to me for a long time but then he put it actually on the market. So that was the biggest hurdle."

A fundraiser with merchandise was launched to support costs associated with the reopening, including T-shirts and sweat shirts with a gorilla holding an ice cream cone and "King Cone" in blue letters. The design was created by an artist co-op member.

About $2,500 was spent on supplies so far and the shop isn't fully stocked.

"This place will be totally independent of our nonprofit and this place will pay the nonprofit rent," Hitchcock explained. "Our nonprofit does not own this business. We are buying this business from the nonprofit."

The group is discussing what to do with excess revenue beyond wages and direct costs of business.  He feels good about the training so far, as employees have already been pitching in ideas for improvements, and "they're already thinking about long term."

23 Years Later, Berkshire Communities Remember 9/11

By Brittany Polito & Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:28PM / Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Dalton officials are joined by police, firefighters and community members at Sept. 11 observances outside Town Hall on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Around 50 people gathered in Veterans Memorial Park to mark the 23rd anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, when attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon left nearly 3,000 people dead, thousands wounded, and launched two of the nation's longest wars.

 

Mayor Peter Marchetti described it as "a day that most of us would probably like to forget." When he woke up this morning, the clear skies and sunshine eerily reminded him of the weather on that tragic day. 

 

"There's been a number of these years that the weather is almost exactly the same to remind us of that treacherous day that we all were surprised," he added. 

 

"You know, growing up in this generation, knowing all of the folks that say, 'Do you remember where you were when President Kennedy was shot?' Now my generation has 'Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001?'" 

 

Five Berkshire County soldiers lost their lives in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars: Sgt. 1st Class Daniel H. Petithory, 32, of Cheshire; Spc. Michael R. DeMarsico II, 20, of North Adams; and Spc. Mitchell K. Daehling, 24, of Dalton, all in Afghanistan; and Sgt. Glenn R. Allison, 24, of Pittsfield, and Chief Warrant Officer Stephen M. Wells, 29, of North Egremont, in Iraq.

 

The ceremony took place around the city's Iraq and Afghanistan War Memorial, dedicated four years ago to honor the men and others lost. A time capsule was buried at the monument with items that were provided by their family members and will be opened in 2101.

 

Brian Willette, commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and an Army veteran, said it is "our first duty to remember and to never allow the public or even ourselves to forget the significance of today and what happened next."