Cold Rock franchisee in Rosalie looks onwards and upwards

It has been one year since a metre-and-a-half of muddy brown water destroyed their business, but the owners of Cold Rock Ice Creamery in Rosalie have well and truly put the nightmares of the Brisbane flood behind them.John and Donna Weatherhead have chosen to remember the day the Brisbane River crept in to their 13-year-old Nash Street store as a day to be positive about what they had achieved since.

“We lost three months trade because the whole shop had to be totally rebuilt,” Ms Weatherhead said.

She explained that they had been showing a video and images of the flooded shop and the recovery process, they have decided to take it off as it’s now time to move on and think positively, celebrating the fact that they are back in business thanks to the support from so many wonderful customers.

The Cold Rock franchisees were among 40 guests who were invited by Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk to a civic reception marking the one year anniversary of the floods. The reception was held on the Spirit of Brisbane CityCat, named in honour of the community spirit invoked by the disaster.

They also received a ‘Certificate of Remembrance’. Aside from the certificate, no reminders remain of that day in store.

“People are still very curious about the floods and around every tenth customer asks us what level the water came to,” Ms Weatherhead said. “We are considering putting a line on the wall to show where the water reached, but it’s really onwards and upwards for Cold Rock Rosalie.”

Cold Rock Ice Creamery is a colourful ice cream franchise brand featuring more than 3000 different ice cream combinations. Customer can create their own combinations by adding chocolate, lollies, and fruit and nut ‘Mix Ins’ into their ice creams.