Business Spotlight: The Daily Scoop Dishes Up Dessert And Smiles

By Rochelle Karina

Around Pasadena, when folks talk about “The Ice Cream Man” they don’t mean the little truck that plays music; they mean Michael Linder, co-owner of The Daily Scoop. Linder and his wife Fran have been dishing out ice cream to the local area since 2005, and they have no plans to slow down any time soon.

They had retired; Fran had been working in customer service and advertising at a local newspaper and Michael had been in manufacturing and visual displays. They were both looking for a retirement business that would bring some fun.

“We were looking for something to do,” recalls Fran. “I’ve always been into creative cooking and desserts, this was my forte.” The decision to go into the ice cream business was easy. “It seemed the happiest of avenues,” she explained. “Customers would leave with a smile. From the beginning we wanted something fun and enjoyable… to get up every day and have it be a pleasure.”

The couple had lived in Connecticut for most of their marriage and moved to the area because their daughter was entering graduate school in D.C. “Pasadena was a community where we could be involved and get to know the people growing up in it,” Fran said.

The Daily Scoop has customers who were pregnant when the shop first opened, and now they are coming in with their six-year-old children. The shop is a step back in time to a more customer-focused era with photos of customers decorating the walls; photos showing happy, smiling faces.

“We make customers our number one priority,” Fran said. “From the minute they walk through the door, it’s all about them. And we love the kids!”

Community involvement is also a big part of what The Daily Scoop stands for. “Schools come in to us and we do fund raisers, ice cream socials, a lot of gift certificate donations for baskets, raffles, we want to be part of the community,” admits Fran Linder.

She is often asked if the girls who work in her shop are her daughters, and she usually answers “yes, they’re like my own kids.”

Michael Linder echoes the customer-focused mindset. “The part of our business we focus on most is the customer. They pay our bills, so we show our gratitude by providing them with the best product on the market.”

The Linders feel community is their biggest asset. “We look at our customers the way we would expect a business to treat us,” explained Michael. “It has to be a good product, competitive price and consistent, good service.”

Ask anyone who has been in the shop and they can’t decide what to rave about first - the service or the ice cream. With flavors ranging from basic vanilla and chocolate to interesting and on to seemingly outrageous, a trip into the shop is an adventure. Located at 3201 Mountain Road, The Daily Scoop features around 147 flavors of gourmet ice cream plus Italian ices. Most of the ice creams are made with the Linders’ own bases rather than traditional vanilla and chocolate. They also offer ice cream cakes and other yummy dessert items and they can be reached at 410-437-2667.