I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Free Scoop Day

Editor’s Note: Are you rating and reviewing the places you go on your Android or iPhone? Show your Google Places app at any Amy’s Ice Creams location in Austin, Texas, and enjoy one free serving of the Google Ice Cream combo, while supplies last. Download the app from your phone today at google.com/places. 

Below, we asked Amy — yes the Amy of Amy’s Ice Creams — to write about the Free Scoop Day held at all Amy’s locations yesterday, courtesy of Google. And here’s a gallery of photos capturing the big day!

Oh, what a day it was. Google Hotpot teamed up with Amy’s Ice Creams to bring all of Austin Free Scoop Day, and it was our biggest event ever! Customers who came to any one of our Austin locations yesterday afternoon enjoyed free ice cream, on Google! I couldn’t thank Google enough for their generosity toward the Austin community. Our mission at Amy’s Ice Creams is to make people’s day, and free ice cream allows us to share our joy with our community.

Was it serendipitous that Free Scoop Day took place on National Mom & Pop Business Day or that Los Lonely Boys gave a free concert at Waterloo Records next to our 6th Street store?  Maybe, but this is the sort of magic that happens only in Austin and thanks to Google.

When Google approached us about a Free Scoop Day we were stunned. We’ve only had three of these days in the past 27 years. We rallied our scoops who put in 5.5 hours of non-stop scooping for 8,000 customers, our ice cream makers who churned out 1,356 gallons of fresh made ice cream, and our delivery drivers who braved Austin traffic all day to make sure we never ran out of our ice cream!

Our small business runs on Google. I signed up for Gmail when it was first in beta. We’re collaborating with our partners using Google Apps for Business, and we’re huge fans of Google Places. And Google’s newest tool, Hotpot, helps Austinites find unique businesses like Amy’s Ice Creams.

Get the Google Places app for your smartphone and rate and review Amy’s Ice Creams so that you can get recommendations for other cool businesses. Thanks again to Google for sponsoring Free Scoop Day and for Keepin’ Austin Cool!

Posted by Amy “The Amy” Simmons, Founder Amy’s Ice Creams. Photo by Paige Pharr.