Only a month after Fizz Soda Bar closed, new ETSU Farmers Market vendor, What’s the Scoop? Ice Cream, will move into Fizz’s location in downtown Johnson City.
Inspired by their connection with ice cream, Kenneth and Shareé Perciful opened What’s the Scoop? in downtown Erwin in December 2017. The business sells ice cream scoops, shakes, floats and banana splits along with help from their four children. This is their first year on campus as a vendor with ETSU Farmers Market.
“There’s not a lot of parlors that do homemade ice cream anymore,” said Kenneth Perciful. “So, it’s usually like Kilwins and stuff like that, and we knew Greg and Ashley from The Hop. We had worked with them previously over in Asheville.”
Their supply of homemade dairy and vegan ice creams come from The Hop Ice Creamery in Asheville, North Carolina.
“What we love about The Hop is they take pride in what they put into their ice cream, so there’s no artificial ingredients,” said Perciful.
Perciful said along with basic flavors like chocolate and vanilla, The Hop makes unique flavors like strawberry ice cream made with pepita (pumpkin) seed milk and avocado lime.
“They’re not afraid to explore when it comes to ice cream,” said Perciful.
The business made connections this summer selling their ice cream at the local farmers markets in Johnson City, Erwin and Unicoi, as well working with events in Johnson City such as the Buddy Walk and the Meet the Mountains Festival. Perciful said they did these events to spread the word and get more recognition, which helped open the door for their new location at 104 E. Market St.
Perciful said he and his wife have thought about opening a second location outside of Erwin for the past year. Although their current location in Erwin is for sale, they are looking for another location in Erwin in addition to their new Johnson City location.
They found their soon to be Johnson City location while previewing another possible location. The day Fizz Soda Bar announced their closure, the Percifuls received a call from Fizz asking if they wanted any of their equipment. While looking at Fizz’s equipment, which they wanted most of, Kenneth Perciful asked how much rent was for the space.
“When she told me the amount, I was like, ‘I need you to get me in contact with whoever it is that I need to speak to about moving in here,’” said Perciful.
The Johnson City location is projected to open on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Perciful said they will close their Erwin location after the Unicoi County Apple Festival on Saturday, Oct. 5 and move their stuff to Johnson City on Sunday. If the business passes their health inspection on Monday, they hope to open their doors to the public on Tuesday.
Perciful said the interior of the building will remain the same.
“The location where Fizz was is just absolutely gorgeous,” said Perciful. “They have some beautiful woodwork in there. So, pretty much the layout; nothing’s going to change.”
The couple is excited for the possibilities to come with their Johnson City location. Perciful said they also hope to open another location in the Tri-Cities, but they cannot reveal or confirm anything at the time.
“With these other two locations, and hopefully finding another spot to open in Erwi, ultimately in five years I’d like to sell off those locations and just make the ice cream and provide homemade ice cream to the Tri-Cities areas because it doesn’t have it,” Perciful said.
Kenneth said their Johnson City location will have Wi-Fi for students to work on homework. He wants it to be a place where people can get away and relax. Like their Erwin location, the family wants their customers to enjoy a fun atmosphere.
“When we opened in Erwin, we – at the fore-front of it – we wanted something for kids and somewhere for them to hang out; and you know that’s the same with this,” said Perciful. “It’s relatively close to campus. It’s also downtown, and just somewhere that you can come and have a milkshake and forget about life for 30 minutes or so.”
