Scarlet Scoop’s owner holds out for Blue Bell

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Bryan Nelson wishes it were not so.

But he confesses that a break from 38 straight years running a landmark Houma ice cream parlor is not entirely without its benefits.

“I may do a little traveling,” said Nelson, whose Scarlet Scoop, the ice cream store with the fuchsia façade at 300 Barrow Street, remains indefinitely closed.


The shop was closed in April after Texas-based Blue Bell ice cream halted its operations due to a listeria outbreak linked to its products. About two weeks ago the ice cream company reached an agreement with Texas officials for a re-opening plan. But no dates are set. Last week Blue Bell announced plans for layoffs and furloughs.

Nelson is firm as a fresh scoop of chocolate about his decision. If he can’t sell Blue Bell he will sell nothing at all.

“We will not sell a cheaper brand of ice cream just to stay open,” said Nelson, who stops at the store for routine maintenance and chores.


When he does he is greeted by a barrage of multi-colored stick ‘ems and taped scraps of paper with hand-written messages, from customers lamenting the closure.

“I don’t know how to live without king cake ice cream,” a lime-green note from a fan states.

“Scarlet Scoop is the only thing keeping me alive,” reads another note on a paper square the color of a butterscotch scoop. “You’re killing me.”


“We love you! Come back soon,” intones another.

“We are very grateful for the support our loyal customers are showing,” Nelson said.

According to press releases from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and statements from the Blue Bell company itself, trouble began after five cases of people becoming sick from listeria in Kansas, all of whom had eaten Blue Bell ice cream.


Blue Bell issued the first recall in its history and the FDA began looking into the matter. The recall was widened March 24.

Listeria is a type of bacterium that can infect food, including frozen products. In some cases exposure can be fatal for humans.

Various fixes were announced by the company as, in April, an FDA investigation determined that risks of listeria exposure were present at Blue Bell plants as far back as 2013.


By mid-May massive layoffs were announced.

Nelson traveled to Texas in May to meet with Blue Bell company officials. But he, like the ice cream-buying public at large, gained no useful information. Nelson had his own ice cream stock tested and no threat appears to have existed for Houma customer, he said.

Nelson is the fourth owner of the Scarlet Scoop shop, which was opened in 1968 on the site of a former Sinclair gas station.


He began working there at the age of 15 and bought it a few years later, rescuing it from imminent closure in 1977, while still a student at South Terrebonne High School.

Regular customers said they miss not only the ice cream, but the old time ambience.

“We live in Downtown Houma , and it was nice to take a slow walk and just sit talk eat ice-cream and watch the traffic,” said Telisa Clark, a event planner.


“It’s such a tragedy.”

In addition to those who miss Scarlet Scoop is the broader spectrum of local consumers, who might have eaten Blue Bell at home but now can’t get it on grocery shelves, like novice disc jockey Greg Dumas.

“I miss Blue Bell anywhere,” he said.


Notes from well-wishing customers appear daily on the door of the Scarlet Scoop ice cream shop on Barrow Street. 

 

JAMES LOISELLE | THE TIMES