Ample Hills Founders Fired After Momentous BK Return: Report

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, NY — Just six months after the beloved ice cream chain made a sweet return to Prospect Heights, the Ample Hills co-founders said they've been let go, Inc reported.

Ample Hills' original Prospect Heights location on Vanderbilt Avenue reopened in June — three years after the beloved home of the "ooey gooey" scoop went bankrupt.

And now it seems a business snafu has left the married co-founders Jackie Cuscuna and Brian Smith on the outs of their beloved brainchild, which first opened in 2011 and quickly garnering support from Oprah and Disney.

The local favorite notoriously melted down in 2020 after years of explosive growth.

The cohabitating co-founders were ousted after ongoing disagreements with an outside CEO, brought in by investors soon after the ice cream spot's reopening, Cuscuna and Smith told Inc.

"The idea of having somebody who had financial experience that we hadn't had in the past was something that we originally were excited by," Smith told Inc. "I think, at the end of the day, the investors just got tired of us fighting with their CEO, and they made the decision to ultimately side with their CEO instead of the founders."

But an investor in the company, Norm Brodsky, told Inc the conflict was not the reason the founders were terminated.

The return of Ample Hills was a momentous one for Prospect Heights — where they first served their flavors out of a cart in Prospect Park.

On re-opening day in June, Cuscuna and Smith were joined by excited locals and devoted fans, constantly expressing their happiness at the return, the founders said at the time.

"We're just kind of devastated about the whole experience," Cuscuna told Inc. "It wasn't just a job for us. The communities that we created through the shops, the brands, the ice cream, the creativity — it was our life's work."