Colorado: Lindsay's Boulder Deli at Haagen-Dazs

Lindsay's Boulder Deli at Haagen-Dazs is centrally located on the Pearl St. mall in downtown Boulder, Colorado. The store has been open since 2004 when Lindsay and Aaron Shaw took over what was then named the Crosswalk Deli. Lindsay, 29, and Aaron, 26, saw a failing business in an ideal location and decided to take the opportunity to make something out of nothing. To do that, the pair would have to follow in the footsteps of their father, Michael Shaw.

Michael Shaw has been the proprietor of a number of Haagen-Dazs shops in Atlanta, Georgia, Birmingham, Alabama, Troy, Michigan, West Palm Beach, Florida and Columbus,Ohio over the years. His children, Lindsay and Aaron grew up in Atlanta with ice cream scoops in hand. While the kids spent summers working at the stores, they never had any clue that they would ever be running a store of their own.

Lindsay graduated from the University of Colorado in 2000 and taught in the Denver area for a time. Aaron graduated from the University of Georgia in 2004 and immediately jumped into his career hunt. He had always wanted to be a sports broadcaster, so he he went around the country participating in ESPN's Dream Job competition. When Aaron's SportsCenter dreams were dashed after he was cut from a round of the 2004 Dream Job competition, he needed to pursue a different career path.

Aaron and his sister Lindsay spoke about possibly running a store, and when one came available in Boulder, the two jumped at the opportunity . They have been running the shop ever since and they say that it is currently at it's best.

"I saw the opportunity to open our own store, and I love Boulder," said Aaron.

Showing a creative side that their father did not have in his businesses, the pair looked for ways to maximize the profitability of the space at the corner of Broadway and the Pearl St. mall. The young entrepreneurs decided to expand the scope of an ice cream-only Haagen-Dazs, to a full service deli that serves Boar's Head meats and cheeses alongside the frozen dessert section.

"We needed a way to beat the harsh winters when people aren't think so much about ice cream. We will have days, especially in the summer, when there is literally a line out the door, " said Lindsay. "We have to hire a whole new crew just to keep up!"

The deli uses a variety of breads from a local bakery, Gerard's to serve it's sandwiches. There are several types of salads as well as soups like a hearty chili and a classic tomato. Both are excellent, especially with one of the sandwiches. The T.B.A is this writer's favorite, a turkey, bacon and avocado with cheddar cheese on wheat bread. It, like most of the sandwiches, is toasted and can be made into a combo meal with a soft drink and a bag of Boulder's Chips.

The breakfast sandwiches are especially good, served on either a fresh bagel from Mickey C's or a croissant. The eggs are cooked fresh on a griddle, and can be paired with either bacon or sausage, or turkey upon special request. There is also a full espresso bar and coffee bar.

Everyone knows how great Haagen-Dazs ice cream is, and this Boulder ice cream shop serves up over 28 flavors of it in cones, hand-dipped cones and milk shakes. Again, this writer has a few a favorites, and they are a Cookies-n-Creme milk shake and a cookie crunch specialty cone with two scoops of chocolate peanut butter.

The store does a fine job of appealing to the local University of Colorado by offering free wireless Internet access to all customers, as well as a delivery service for ice cream or sandwiches. Catering is also available. For more information, check out www.lindsaysboulderdeli.com

"What separates us is our customer service and our knowledge of the brand," said Aaron.