In Business: Glacier Ice Houses
Ice fishing – it’s a way anglers can continue to fish even in cold temperatures. But fishing in the cold is a thing of the past with ice houses now on the market. Ice anglers can comfortably fish on the edge of their couch while watching TV inside a heated camper.
“Rather than sitting out on the lake, where you’ll be really cold, this has a furnace in there. It can be 70 degrees in the house if – just so you can fish all year round. It’s a camper, you can take out and set it out on the ice and hang out there for the weekend, fish, have fun…“ said Jason Jaeckels, Glacier Ice House General Manager.
Glacier Ice House has been in Northern Minnesota since June 2015. It was originally a small shop in Blackduck with two employees. In October 2015, the business moved to a warehouse in Bemidji.
“Since then we’ve got two new shops in Brainerd, Minnesota and have 75 employees,” Jaeckels said.
There are several different models of ice houses available. There are full RV models that come with full options like a kitchen, shower and bunk beds to smaller ice houses with just the basics like a couch. The company aims to have a number of campers built a week.
“Out of each plant, up in [the] Bemidji plant we make five a week. Brainerd 2 plant, we make five a week and then Brainerd 1, they make the smaller units, so they’re making around seven a week,” Jaeckels said.
As the season approaches, dealers start asking for the products around September. Building ice houses can be a long process.
“As a whole, I mean the guys come together to make this product. I mean, it comes in raw and it’s just the guys on the floor are the ones that make the magic happen, but our fit and finish is what we strive on,” said Garret Meyers, Bemidji Plant Manager.
The size in ice houses at Glacier range from 12 foot to 24 foot, with the most common models at 17 foot and 20 foot. Jaeckels says they focus on quality of their product and customer service.
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