Get ready to treat your taste buds to 25 different flavours of ice cream at Moose Jaw’s newest frozen snack shop that promises to churn out plenty of smiles along with its hard-serve ice cream this summer.
The grand opening for Bob’s Ice Cream is set to take place this Saturday, June 1st and the opening day runs from noon until 8 p.m.
“We are selling hard ice cream. We’re keeping everything super simple,” announced co-owner Aubrey Shpaiuk.
Bob’s Ice Cream will be set up as a street-side window vendor where customers can walk up, take their orders, and continue along their day with a single or double scoop of ice cream. The new ice cream haven won’t have any in-house seating – at least not for the time being.
The inspiration behind Bob’s Ice Cream came from an idea to commemorate co-owner Dwayne Shpaiuk’s father, Bob Shpaiuk, who died four years earlier. His passion, Shpaiuk said, was ice cream and now the family wanted to carry on his legacy.
“It was a tradition – Bob would always be the first one to introduce ice cream to any of the grandkids,” Shpaiuk said. “So, it was just special.
“Then, when Dwayne and I were trying to come up with a name for the place, he was just kind of joking about ‘Bob’s Ice Cream,’ and we were like, ‘Oh, why not?’”
Bob’s Ice Cream aims to be more than just a standard cold treat business and co-owners Dwayne and Aubrey want to provide new opportunities for Moose Jaw’s younger residents.
“We have four teenage kids and it’s just really hard for them to find jobs right now,” Shpaiuk said. “So, we (opened the business) to create opportunities for them (and) others in Moose Jaw because not many people will hire a 14-year-old.
“It would be nice if we could get these kids some experience (in the workforce),” she added.
Customers will have the chance to participate in the new businesses’ reward program starting on June 1. To provide a greater level of service to its loyal customers, Bob’s Ice Cream will introduce a nine-punch loyalty card and visitors can enjoy their 10th ice cream purchase on the house.
Aside from that, Shpaiuk said the ice cream and customer service will speak for itself during the shop’s opening day.
In its opening season, the new ice cream shop will focus on its one core product – hard-serve ice cream. Some upcoming flavours include classics like Cookies N’ Cream, Rainbow, Butter Pecan, and Tiger Tail, but there’s also a few interesting varieties that include Superhero and one mysterious flavour called “Moon Magic.”
When asked what will set Bob’s Ice Cream apart from other vendors in the area, Shpaiuk said it wasn’t so much the ice cream itself, but how and where it’s served.
“Our location is key…” she said. “And you won’t beat the customer service you’re going to get.”
Bob’s Ice Cream is located at 50 Caribou Street West and is currently opening on a seasonal basis for the summer months with an anticipated end-of-season date of Sept. 30.
Starting with the grand opening date of Saturday, June 1, Bob’s will be open from 12 – 8 p.m. Monday – Saturday and from 12 – 6 p.m. on Sundays.
For more information contact Dwayne or Aubrey Shpaiuk at 306-513-8279 or follow ‘Bob’s Ice Cream’ on Facebook for more updates throughout the summer.
