What a $15 pint of ice cream says about the economy | CNN Business

It’s a breezy, 80-degree sunny day on Mainstreet here and, stretching down the block, there’s a line of people waiting to pick up pints of ice cream they ordered for about $15 a pop. Then again, it could be a blustery, below-freezing winter day on Mainstreet here, and there still would be a line of people waiting to pick up pints of ice cream for $15 a pop. The phenomenon is not unique to this quaint Minneapolis suburb, nor to the hometown A to Z Creamery, nor even to ice cream. But, in a way, these paperboard pints hold more than just artisanal frozen concoctions: They’re 16-ounce windows into what’s become a layered and complex US economy. A to Z Creamery’s origin story is a familiar one: a pandemic passion project turned side-hustle turned full-bore enterprise. In 2020, Zach Vraa’s sales job was grounded by the pandemic. Left to his own devices – namely a finely tuned sweet tooth and a small ice cream machine gifted to him by his mother – the former star receiver for North Dakota State started vlogging the resulting frozen confections on social media. “My mission at the beginning was to create unique flavors that can’t typically be found at ice cream shops or