Last Day for Moorhead’s Tastee Freez

One of the owners say they're coming back next year with a new name.

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Tastee Freez opens its doors for the last day of the season and the last day under that name.

To say it’s been a challenging year for Moorhead’s Tastee Freez is an understatement.

Construction on the 20th and 21st Street underpass project has caused a lot of inconvenience for the business.

“They’ve shut down roads. They’ve made us into a one way at one point, and limiting us. We’ve had to shut down a few times so that they can do water line moves and repairs,” Malvin said.

The ice cream shop’s co-owner Jessica Malvin says they’ve been told will take another year and half to complete.

They’ve also had the coronavirus to deal with which caused them to shut down just two weeks after opening for the season.

“We had to close at the beginning of May and we opened back up with limited sales,” she said.

And if that’s not enough, the store was broken-into in July causing significant damage to the business.

Soon after they were vandalized, Malvin says they learned they wouldn’t be able to continue with the established name that many in the metro grew up knowing.

“Very unexpected. We were not prepared for it; we were getting ready to renew our license and that’s when we got the news,” she said.

Malvin and her partner made the decision to earlier than normal this year.

“So that we can finish the repairs from the break-in, and you know, COVID has started to put a strain. We’re a small business,” she said

But through it all, they say what’s kept them persevering is the continuing support from the community. After getting hit by vandals, the community raised money through a GoFundMe. Over 29,000 was raised.

“I’ve been here almost 19 years. And this is the absolute hardest year I’ve ever had, but it’s also been one of the most rewarding because we’ve had so much love and support from the community. That’s why we want to stay here, we want to make it work,” she adds.

The owners will reopen next year under a new name in a renovated building.

She hopes to pick a new name by the end of the year.