Cory Metrokotsas has worked at Best Buy for 17 years, but he also has a sweet side gig.
In his spare time, Cory — the general manager at our store in Vauxhall, New Jersey — lends a hand at his family’s ice cream shop in nearby Piscataway.
“I’m probably in there two or three times a week, not full shifts but just stopping by to see if there’s anything I can do to help,” he said. “My family jokes that I’m the taste tester.”
Cory’s parents bought the shop, called Petrucci’s Inside Scoop, about seven years ago. It’s about 3 blocks from their house, and Cory’s brother helps run the day-to-day operations.
The shop holds nostalgic value for Cory, who used to stop there on his way home from school. What’s more, his mom was a roller-skating server when a different ice cream shop occupied the same site decades ago.
Petrucci’s makes its own ice creams, cakes and other treats. Cory’s favorite is the churro sundae, made with vanilla soft serve, pieces of churros, caramel sauce, cinnamon and sugar.
“We’re always busy,” he said. “It’s a fun business.”
‘Retail is retail’
While there’s certainly a bit of a difference between ice cream and consumer electronics, Cory said he sees a lot of similarities between the ice cream shop and his day job at Best Buy.
“Retail is retail,” he said. “You have to make sure customers are satisfied.”
Cory knows the business well. He started at Best Buy as a seasonal employee when he was 18 years old and has been a general manager for the past three years.
Cory’s thankful for his career at Best Buy and the people he gets to work with. He also treasures his opportunities to go home and see his family at the ice cream shop. A visit there to see his mom on Mother’s Day a few years ago sticks out.
“It was just one of those moments where you step back and see the whole family working together,” he said. “That’s probably one of my fondest memories.”
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