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Original Carvel closing.

metsguyinmichigan Oct 07 2008 08:37 AM

When my Midwestern wife moved to the East Coast, she was horrified to see a Carvel ad on television featuring "Cookie O'Puss." I had to explain that while Tom Carvel, while certainly lacking in production value for his ads, sold decent ice cream. (Though I liked Friendly's better.) Alas, now that we are back in the Midwest, we have neither! NEW YORK (AP) — The original Carvel shop served its last cones Sunday, more than seven decades after becoming the suburban New York birthplace of an ice cream empire. ùù Customers flocked to the 1950s-style store in Hartsdale, about 25 miles north of Manhattan, snapping photos and lamenting the shutdown, owner Abdol Faghihi said. Even as the doors were closing around 10:30 p.m., a last-minute customer rushed in for two cones, he said. ùù The shop, which the owner said had struggled with rising taxes and other expenses, was shuttered to make way for a new restaurant. ùù “I’m sad that it ends, but at the same time I’m happy that it was a good thing I did in life,” said Faghihi, a high school government and economics teacher who bought the franchise more than 20 years ago. “For everyone who comes in, it was special.” ùù Original plans envisioned the possibility of maintaining a small Carvel shop on the Central Avenue property, but Faghihi said the redevelopment was scaled back during as the owners sought local government approvals. He and a partner bought the property from the Yonkers-based Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation for about $3.5 million two years ago. ùù Tom Carvel’s ice cream truck got a flat tire on Central Avenue in 1934. He was forced to pull over and did such brisk business that he opened an ice cream stand on the spot two years later. ùù The brand became famous for its soft-serve swirls and ice cream cakes with such themes as Fudgie the Whale and Cookie Puss, promoted in television commercials the founder did himself before his death in 1990. The Atlanta-based company’s products are now sold in more than 500 Carvel stores and 8,500 supermarkets nationwide. ùù A Carvel corporate spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a telephone call Sunday about the original store’s closing. ùù Faghihi runs two other Carvel stores in nearby communities. He said the venerable brand still sells well, but mounting expenses squeezed profits at the sizable Central Avenue store. ùù Customers on its final weekend were sad but understanding, Faghihi said. ùù “They all say that, well, the economy dictates what we do,” he said. ùù He planned to sell off some machinery at an auction at the store Monday.

Willets Point Oct 07 2008 08:51 AM

<sniff> I never got my Fudgie the Whale cake for Father's Day neither.

themetfairy Oct 07 2008 08:56 AM

Back in the '80s, Saturday Night Live did a Carvel skit, where Tim Kazerinski was the proprietor of a Carvel franchise in King of Prussia, PA that served all sorts of porn ice cream products. I remember that Peter the Yule Log was much less expensive in vanilla than it was in chocolate. Silly, but funny. Sorry Willets. If you ever visit us, I'll get a Fudgie the Whale from our local franchise.

SteveJRogers Oct 07 2008 10:06 AM

Damn, drove by it HUNDREDS of times through the years, but learned only last summer that it was the original one, and went in just that one time.

holychicken Oct 07 2008 10:20 AM

Oh, poor Cookie O'Puss . . . he will be missed.

AG/DC Oct 07 2008 11:44 AM

Oh, I'm sure you can still get a Cookie O'Puss somewhere. In March, anyhow.

cooby Oct 07 2008 12:33 PM

Why didn't she like Cookie O'Puss?

Willets Point Oct 07 2008 12:49 PM

Oops...skimmed the article but now I realize that not every Carvel is closing.

metsguyinmichigan Oct 07 2008 01:40 PM

cooby wrote: Why didn't she like Cookie O'Puss? I think it was a combination of the name, color, and Tom Carvel speaking like a in a horribly fake Irish accent with an attempt at Irish music in the background. Later, she realized that Carvel had only about two cake shapes, and woudl just turn them in different diections with new icing illustrations. I had to enlighten her, saying that we were lucky Tom had two shapes and differnet color icing, but that it was all good. Flying saucers were always a mess, though. My first birthday cake back in the East Coast after being in Missouri was indeed the great Cookie O'Puss.

themetfairy Oct 07 2008 01:53 PM

Willets was coveting the cake that I bought for D-Dad (at his request) for his last birthday -

metsguyinmichigan Oct 07 2008 02:06 PM

Fudgie the Whale! And tuned sideway, it's Witchy the Witch!

AG/DC Oct 07 2008 02:31 PM

Vertically, it also makes a handsome Santa.