For Danielle McQueen, owner of Springfield Scoops ice cream shop, a focus on community and family has yielded business success.
Inspired by her childhood memories of eating ice cream with her grandmother on her porch and joining friends at Baskin-Robbins, McQueen opened Springfield Scoops’ first location at 1807 N. Main St. in 2020.
In May, McQueen opened a second location, Scoops Lounge at Northpoint, at 11257 Alta Drive in Dunns Creek Crossing shopping center.
Opening her business in the pandemic wasn’t easy, she said. Her shop was able to stay open during the government shutdown because it was deemed part of an essential industry.
She said being one of few places that stayed open helped introduce her business to Springfield in a unique way.
“It allowed us to be that outlet for people who wanted to get out,” McQueen said. “It allowed us to introduce ourselves in a more intimate way to the community.”
After nearly five years of saving and operating what McQueen calls her “mobile scoop shop” — a food truck she was able park outside school events and local festivals — she knew it was time to bring her ice cream to North Jacksonville. She celebrated the business’s fifth anniversary Aug. 29.
“The goal was really to expand the brand and kind of spread our brand across different neighborhoods,” McQueen said.
“We’re not just about making money. It’s about enhancing the communities around us.”
McQueen said she chose the Dunns Creek shopping center because it sits between North Jacksonville’s growing residential neighborhoods and Interstate 295. She wants her business to help bring these new communities together and designed the Scoops lounge with this in mind.
The walls inside the establishment are painted a kaleidoscope of colors and offer a communal space with deep-cushioned white couches and benches that give the lounge floor a cloudlike appearance.
Both Scoops locations seat about 50 patrons, and McQueen says she has found the lounge space perfect for community movie nights and family trivia.
“There are lots of neighborhoods around there with young families,” she said.
“You want to make sure they have (a) place where they can bring their families, bring their children, bring their friends… The whole business is really just about community.”
McQueen attributes much of her business success to her mother, Sharon Williams, her best friend and manager of the Main Street location. Additionally, Scoops is a first job for most of McQueen’s staff, comprised mostly of young people from the surrounding communities.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have some amazing young people work for me – and they learn how to run the business,” McQueen said.
Looking ahead, McQueen has big dreams for her business.
She’s working to set up partnerships with other local organizations, and one day hopes to see Scoops inside EverBank Stadium.
“If it’s something I can pull off, I’d love to be able to put a piece of the community right inside the stadium,” McQueen said.
“I’m all about pouring into the community.”