ORTING, Wash. — When Grand Canyon University sent Amber Fairbanks home her senior year, the business management major immediately began managing a business. It’s a walk-up ice cream shop in Orting called Scoop There It is. If you were around in 1993 you probably get the musical reference.
“The parents really enjoy the name,” laughs Fairbanks. “The kids have no idea.”
Here, in a space smaller than her bedroom, Fairbanks is learning more than just how to make ice cream sandwiches and waffle cones.
She's making sales, managing distribution, marketing on social media and building a really strong right arm by scooping all that pumpkin spice ice cream.
“I took everything that I learned at GCU and brought it here,” she says. “It's just nice to be able to be creative and show it to the community and show all the hard work that we've done.”
Fairbanks has also been figuring out how to keep a business going during the pandemic. Having a walk-up window has been a good decision. There were short lines of customers even on a brisk autumn day.
Emma Boynton and Ellie Capron are regular customers.
“It's good,” says Capron. “I got the espresso explosion and I love coffee ice cream so you can't go wrong.”
“And I got the pumpkin spice,” says Boynton. “So it's like seasonal. Fits in with the fall. It's really good.”
Also really good: having an ice cream shop across the street from a busy playground. Location is everything.
So, if you're looking for a small business success story: We got the Scoop. There It is.
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