Jungle Jim’s International Market now features a Velvet Ice Cream shop inside the entrance of the Fairfield, Ohio-based store, which specializes in creating in-store excitement. The 12-foot-by-eight-foot stand, which opened in early June, offers hand-dipped Velvet ice cream for $1.99, with free sprinkles, in addition to sherbets. Customers can also suggest Velvet flavors they’d like the shop to stock.

“Teaming up with Jungle Jim’s is a great opportunity for Velvet,” said Luconda Dager, president of Utica, Ohio-based Velvet, which has been carried at Jungle Jim’s for 18 years. “It’s great brand exposure, and with the foot traffic coming through Jungle Jim’s, I can’t imagine a better way to sample customers every day of the year. We expect to sell a lot of ice cream.”

When asked by Progressive Grocer about additional shop locations, Velvet spokesman Robin Yocum said, “We’ll take at look at this [Jungle Jim’s shop] and see how it works out,” before deciding on any future store-within-a-store placements. The Jungle Jim’s shop is a first for the company, which operates in the foodservice and grocery channels.

An estimated 4 million shoppers visit Jungle Jim’s annually. Velvet produces over five million gallons of ice cream per year.