Meet The New Owner of Pete’s Pops

Assorted popsicles from Pete’s Pops. Photo courtesy of Ian Robinson.

In the decade since its founding, Pete’s Pops has emerged as a Milwaukee institution, winning over the hearts of even the most ardent custard lovers with its creative and colorful popsicles made with seasonal ingredients.

The company, which operates four permanent locations and a fleet of mobile carts, is now under new ownership. Ian Robinson quietly took over in May after life changes prompted founder Pete Cooney to relocate out of state.

The two connected last year through Robinson’s wife, Alyssa, who was considering joining Pete’s Pops as a manager. However, the timing wasn’t quite right for a sale, so Cooney put the plan on ice. He revisited it in January, officially closing the deal with Robinson in late May. From there, it was full speed ahead.

“I fell right into it,” Robinson said. “Luckily, [Cooney] had a team that was really awesome … they helped to kind of pull me along with them and get me up to speed on everything.”

Robinson is quick to assure customers that he’s “fully planning” to preserve “the spirit of Pete’s Pops. “The brand that people fell in love with over the last 10 years is going to be the brand that they love — hopefully even more — over the next 10 years,” he told Urban Milwaukee in an interview.

The company’s name will remain unchanged, he added. But there may be a shift in “the attitude behind it.”

“Instead of focusing on the name of a guy, it’s the collection of a group of people that all have a similar goal,” he said.

After a whirlwind summer — typical for the frozen treat purveyor — Robinson is ready to make like a popsicle and chill.

“It was a lot,” he said with a laugh. “It was fun, it was exciting … it was such a different world than what I had done before. So I was trying to get out to every event I could, work the carts, work some markets and collaborate with the production team to actually make the pops.”

As the busy season winds down, however, Robinson is already looking ahead to spring as he continues to learn more about the business and develop strategies to enhance efficiency.

“Part of it is going to be making sure that my team and I have a good mental health reset,” he said, noting that he’s hoping to ramp back up for holiday events and then pivot to production in early 2025.

“That way, when warmer months hit, we’re ready to go,” he said. Having plenty of prepared inventory will also allow the company to experiment with new flavors — a priority for Robinson.

“I want to invest right now into the production and make sure that when we get to next season, we’re not just catching up, but we’re giving my team that’s on the production side more time to play, more time to have fun with it,” he said.

Before taking over Pete’s Pops, Robinson worked as a global sales manager. Some of the skills from that job, such as team management and market analysis, transferred well to the new role. Other tasks, such as strawberry hulling, were delightfully novel.

“It’s so fun and interesting,” Robinson said. “Most days — even on the busiest days — I look at what I accomplished, or what the team accomplished that day, and I get home and I’m excited. I’m happy, I’m ready to go … I’ve got that energy again, that spark of life.”

While he’s committed to maintaining the local feel of Pete’s Pops, Robinson has big plans for expansion, with hopes of bringing the brand to new markets across the Midwest.

“I think the biggest thing — a personal goal — is to take the business, take something that’s very successful, and bring it to more people,” he said.

But Robinson also has a lot of so-called “little dreams,” including seeing his three-year-old daughter grow up to have a role in the business. In the future, his wife also hopes to join the business full time.

“That would be fun for me to see,” he said. “That we have something that grows over the course of the next 10 to 15, years, and we still love it at that point.”

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