The owners of St. Albert’s newest ice cream shop hope that their scoops become a permanent summer fixture in the city.
The Whole Scoop, which opened in late May, serves over 35 flavours of hard ice cream and is located at 165 Liberton Drive in the Salvation Army parking lot.
An unmistakable little blue shack, the St. Albert Whole Scoop is the fourth location of the business, which was started by husband-and-wife Cameron and Kirsten Schriever in 2017.
“We always wanted to build our own business in our yard,” said Kirsten Schriever, referring to the first Whole Scoop location, which opened outside the couple’s home on the outskirts of downtown Stony Plain.
“When we would go on vacation or go camping, one of our outings would be to go find ice cream, and we did that for a few years when our kids were young,” Schriever said. “But there was no [dedicated] ice cream store in Stony Plain … So we just quite literally built it in the front yard. And it really took off.”
The business proved so successful, in fact, that they’ve made selling ice cream a full-time gig.
After The Whole Scoop got a positive reception in the summer of 2017, Cameron Schreiver started building mobile ice cream units, all painted a distinctive turquoise, that could be deployed to different locations in the Edmonton area.
They’ve had a pop-up summer location in Spruce Grove since 2019 and have also tested the waters in Edmonton and Wabamun.
But this is the first summer The Whole Schoop has ventured into St. Albert.
“The weather hasn’t been great, but [last Tuesday], when we were open, everyone was super happy to have us here, and so I hope that continues,” Schreiver said.
The Whole Scoop has set up in the same Spruce Grove location each summer since 2019, and Schreiver hopes that same success can be duplicated in St. Albert.
“I would say our motto has always been just to keep it simple,” Schreiver said. “So we have kept only hard ice cream, and the goal is just to provide an affordable family treat.”
Schreiver looks for popular flavours that can’t be easily found on supermarket shelves.
Bubble gum has been the shop’s biggest hit for some time, she said.
But other unique flavours, such as moon mist, a mix of banana, grape and bubble gum, are also popular, especially with kids.
Moose tracks, which combines vanilla with fudge and peanut butter cups, is a top seller. And of course, the shop carries staples like maple walnut.
The Whole Scoop is open from 2 p.m. – 9 p.m. on weekdays and 12 p.m. – 9 p.m. on weekends, as long as it’s not raining.
It will be in St. Albert until September, when the little blue shack will return to its winter home in Stony Plain.
