Gordon Square now has frozen sweet treats once again, as Lake Erie Scoops officially opens for business.
The grab-and-go eatery is run by Jennifer Taggart, a longtime Sweet Moses ice cream maker and employee. When Sweet Moses closed in late 2021, the neighborhood was left without an ice cream shop — and Taggart no longer had an outlet for ice cream making.
“Sweet Moses was where I really learned about making premium-style ice cream, and seeing the business through Jeff (Moreau, owner),” Taggart says. “When they closed last fall, I just saw the void in the neighborhood. I missed having the convenience of having somewhere to walk in the neighborhood, and other people were missing the void that Sweet Moses left, too.”
Taggart was interested in opening another ice cream store but was held back by her full-time job as a research biologist at a stem cell lab. Then, when her research job downsized over the summer, she lost her job and turned to her ice cream dreams instead.
“Life has its moments,” Taggart says. “It’s just that point in my life where I’m going to go for this opportunity and just dive into the unknown. It's exciting. I’m really excited to just bring a treat shop back to the neighborhood.”
Lake Erie Scoops focuses on homemade grab-and-go ice cream truck-style items, like creamsicles, fudgesicles and nutty buddies. Vegan ice cream is on the menu, and pints, sundae-making kits, single scoops and flights of scoops will be available for order. Flavors include cookies and cream, banana and cereal themed flavors like Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A few "pup cups" are also available for four-legged friends, in pumpkin, banana and peanut butter flavors.
The treats will range beyond just ice cream. Novelty sodas and ten-cent candies are available to buy, along with slices of pie or whole pies baked by fellow former Sweet Moses employee Maeve Triton. For opening weekend, pie flavors include sugar pie, bourbon-apple, strawberry rhubarb and lemon chess pie.
"I'm going to try to keep it consistent, but every week, it'll be new pies," says Triton.
Triton also makes sea glass-themed candy for sale in the shop, packaged in small jars.
Lake Erie Scoops, located at 6604 Detroit Ave. (the former Big Mamma’s Burritos space), incorporates retro decor reminiscent of Taggart’s childhood. The new shop originally planned to house the iconic Sweet Moses sign, but it was too big to fit on the wall, Taggart says. Instead, it moved to its new home at Superelectric Pinball Parlor down the street.
She says it’s been a whirlwind year for the concept.
"I think it's been about eight and a half months and that's just really pretty ridiculous in the sense of how quick it's all coming together," Taggart says. "I think it's all just a gift, just to have the space and the location and the opportunity to provide treats to the neighborhood."
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