Above: Scoops Old Town is now open.
Below: Business partners, Rico Lewis and Linda Baughman are enjoying the summer heat. They are serving up Michigan State University Dairy store ice cream this summer.
Courtesy photos
LANSING, MI — Scoops Ice Cream in Old Town is open! Two months ago, owners, Rico Lewis and Linda Baughman, realized their dream and opened up an ice cream shop at the corner to Capitol and W. Grand River.
Lewis said when he arrived in Lansing a lot of people were speaking about Old Town and asked Baughman to take him for a visit. He immediately fell in love with the area. After visiting several times, he passed the building located at 127 W. Grand River.
He said, “Every time I drove by I would say, ‘Wow this would make a really nice ice cream shop’.”
One day while driving by, he saw that it was empty. He could hardly believe it. Before that, it was home to artisan coffee shop, Artie’s Filling Station.
Lansing resident Dale Schrader, bought the old filling station in 2009. The building was built in 1923 as the Pullover Brothers Filling Station, garage and repair shop. It sat vacant for decades until Schrader renovated it.
In May of 2016, the Historic Preservation Review Board voted unanimously to approve the nomination and acceptance of the building to the National Register of Historic Places.
There are only a little more than 30 properties on the National Register in the City of Lansing. So this is quite an honor for the tiny building.
Lewis has always had a love affair with old filling stations when he lived in Detroit. When he realized that Artie’s Filling Station was closed, he made a sharp u-turn and spoke to someone who was managing the grounds.
Lewis and Baughman spent many sleepless nights planning for the grand opening for Scoops.
Lewis works during the day for MTH Management and during the ribbon cutting they showed their support.
Lewis said, ”I really appreciated that the maintenance men, office workers, owners and everyone else showed up. It was great to see to my co-wokers enjoying Scoops in Old Town. It was a day that I won’t forget.”
Lewis is finding that his customers in Lansing are very knowledgeable about their ice cream.
“No one in Detroit would ever ask you where you get your ice cream from. It is so amazing that people in Lansing ask where we get our ice cream from. We decided that we will buy the majority of ice cream from Michigan State University’s Diary Store.” .
He added, “I have always been a businessman and owned a natural food store and a beauty supply store in Detroit. I have always thought about what kind of business would I open up next.”
Lauryn Mackay, 15, works at Scoops about 20 hours a week. She is a sophomore at Okemos High School.
She said, “This is my first job and I like it a lot. The customers always seem very happy about the ice cream. The most popular flavors are Berry Cheesecake and the Mink Chocolate Chunk. I look forward to more people coming to visit us at our welcoming ice cream shop.”
Mackay flashed a broad smile, chuckled and said that her favorite part of work is that Lewis is always so happy and sings a lot.
In the fall, Scoops will offer soups. Lewis said that offering soups would enhance and expand their offerings. He said we want to be more than just a tasty ice cream shop, we want to offer affordable food as well. Scoops will be offering more food options this summer and are also open to special events held at the shop.
Scoops is open on Monday through Friday from 2 pm to 9 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 12 pm to 9 pm. Contact Rico or Linda at 517-512-2860 for more information.
They currently serve:
Berry Cheesecake
Black Cherry
Butter Pecan
Chocolate
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Death by Chocolate
Mint Chocolate Chunk
Orange Sherbert
Strawberry
Swirl
and
Vanilla
Scoops will be adding several more flavors in a couple of weeks, so be sure to visit. Lewis suggests that if you are in Old Town that you “follow the red umbrellas”.
This article was printed in the June 26, 2016 – July 9, 2016 edition.
