Here’s the Scoop (Hunter Field Editor’s Note)

Scoops in downtown Little Rock (Emma Mayes)

Count me among those who furrowed their brows in April when an ice cream shop opened in what seemed an unusual space on Broadway in downtown Little Rock.

The new Scoops location felt inconvenient, and that part of downtown is quiet on the weekends when I figured most people would be looking for ice cream.

But after reading Managing Editor Jan Cottingham’s restaurant column last week, I’m happy to report how wrong I was.

Indeed, Scoops’ Little Rock location is doing three times the business of its original location in Hot Springs. That’s according to Greg Hatcher, the founder and CEO of the Hatcher Agency who purchased Scoops in 2022 and resolved to open a store in Little Rock.

I stopped in on a recent Saturday afternoon with my wife. The ice cream — topped with a small, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie, like all Scoops’ cones and cups — was unique and excellent, but that’s not what left me with a lasting impression.

No, what has stuck in my mind is the crowd of people hanging out inside the massive dining room at 2 p.m. on a Saturday.

There was a young couple on a day date who asked us to take their photo outside in front of the Scoops sign. A dad enjoyed a waffle cone alongside his young son; a pair of women chatted over cups of ice cream while their young children played. An older couple took turns taking bites from their dish of chocolate.

The group of patrons was as diversified by race as it was by age.

No one seemed in a hurry to leave.

Scoops’ success is good news for anyone hoping for the best for downtown Little Rock. To me, it’s precisely the type of investment that’s going to be needed to turn around the fortunes of the area.

Arkansas Business readers likely know well by now that city and community leaders are in the first stages of drafting and implementing a master plan to reinvigorate this portion of town.

It’s going to take more places like Scoops. Places that are locally owned. Establishments that encourage families and friends to sit down and stay for a little while.

Most importantly, downtown needs places that contribute to a fabric that attracts additional permanent residents.

If you’ll remember, a key component of the current version of the plan is to attract more people to live downtown. The businesses will follow people.

City leaders have been wise to study cities around the U.S. with thriving downtowns that are similar in size to Little Rock.

But sometimes inspiration is just down the street.

Email Hunter Field, editor of Arkansas Business, at hfield@abpg.com