Ben and Jerry’s will be replaced by local shop

By Elizabeth Sullivan, The Dartmouth Senior Staff

Published on Tuesday, August 17, 2010

• Print
• Report an Error
• Share

Twenty years after Ben & Jerry’s opened its doors on Lebanon Street, a new ice cream store has come to replace the franchise, and students and Upper Valley locals will now look to Carnival I Scream as a Hanover ice cream source.

Although Ben & Jerry’s just closed on Sunday, the new franchise is scheduled to open in its place on Wednesday, according to Gusanoz Taqueria employee Matt Verdine. The interior of the shop is already repainted in vibrant yellow and green in preparation for the new ownership, Verdine said.

Carnival I Scream will provide a number of New England products, including Gifford’s Ice Cream from Skowhegan, Maine, and Walpole Creamery from Walpole, N.H., according to the Valley News. The store will also offer Sweet Scoops Frozen Yogurt from Portsmouth, N.H., Blue Moon Sorbet from Quechee, Vt., and Leonardo’s Italian Gelato and Sorbet from Barre, Vt.

Pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will also be available at the new store.

The shop will be decorated in a carnival theme with models of amusement park rides, according to the Valley News. Apart from the frozen treats, the shop will add several new food offerings, that will correspond with the theme, Verdine said.

“From what I’ve been told we’re going to have a snow cone machine, a cotton candy machine and hot dogs,” he said. “It will provide something else to sell in the winter.”

Fred and Mary Ann Salvatoriello opened the Ben & Jerry’s franchise in 1990, according to the Valley News.

“As a family, we just felt that it was time to move on,” Fred Salvatoriello said in an interview with the Valley News.

While the Salvatoriellos will still own the building — which also houses student apartments — Nick Yager and Maria Limon will own Carnival I Scream as well as their other business at the address, Gusanoz Taqueria, according to the Valley News. Yager and Limon had run Ben & Jerry’s for the over 18 months for the Salvatoriellos, according to the Valley News, but they have decided to cut franchise costs by opening Carnival I Scream as an independent ice cream shop.

Alex Moran — one of Yager and Limon’s five children — was the manager of the Ben & Jerry’s shop and will run Carnival I Scream.

Other Lebanon Street shopkeepers interviewed in the Valley News said the presence of any “confectioner” nearby is good for their own business, but several students said they will miss having Ben & Jerry’s so close to campus.

“I’m surprised, since Ben & Jerry’s has been there forever,” Alex Rahmann ’12 said. “Since I’m from Vermont, I’m going to miss the actual Ben & Jerry’s [shop], but since it’s still local, that’s okay.”

Chris Whitehead ’12, who said he often met with friends at Ben & Jerry’s, said he was disappointed to hear of the shop’s departure.

“It seems like the universe is doing everything possible to make sure that I end up buying a pint of Phish Food from Topside and eating it alone in my room,” he said.

While Ben & Jerry’s may have its roots in nearby Vermont, the company joined forces with Unilever in 2000 in a deal valued at over $300 million, according to the company’s website.

The community’s reaction to the change has so far been positive, Verdine said.

“We’ve gotten a good reception, from what I’ve heard,” he said. “Everybody I’ve told is psyched we’re going to be all natural and local still.”

Staff writer Ann Baum contributed to the reporting of this article.