When owner Jennifer Davis selected a storefront in Kendall Yards for her second Scoop location, she never imagined her soft opening on April 26 would be during a pandemic. But while doing so comes with anxiety, Davis said it has its benefits, as well.

For one, Davis didn’t have to fuss over everything being perfect for the opening. In fact, the ice cream shop still has no signage that tells the public what her business is – but this hasn’t stopped people from coming to the shop at 1238 W. Summit Parkway. The soft open has also given her extra time to learn the new space.

Throughout the stay-home order, the Scoop has offered pickup for online orders, and more recently, walk-up sales of pints. On Wednesday, the South Hill location’s patio reemerged. Ice cream will only be offered in cups as opposed to cones, no samplings and no water service.

“There’s just that part of the population that expects everything to be fully opened, and I’m worried about my employees,” Davis said. “I’ve seen restaurants that seem to be able to manage their 50%, but I can’t stop people from coming in here. We can still have a line, and I’m worried about that.”

Just the patio seating alone provided a logistical problem for Davis. She anticipated she will need an employee who strictly wipes down tables. Additionally, with seating, she must provide restrooms, and a separate employee just for sanitizing the bathrooms, not to mention someone at the door to manage the line. Her concern is that her labor costs could spiral out of control.

But her concerns over opening South Hill go beyond that. Since Spokane has seen a rise in cases over the last week, she’s waffled about the June 3 opening.

“It’s, like, every day just as soon as you figure something out …,” Davis said. “I literally was getting things printed about our Phase 2, and I was, like, ‘I knew I shouldn’t have put a date on that.’”

But June 3 ended up making sense for Davis, and she’s taking it one day at a time.

At the beginning of the stay-home order, the Scoop’s sales were higher than normal, petering down to normal by mid-April. Once the second location opened, her labor costs doubled, but she was still only making the revenue she would expect from the South Hill location. Davis has concerns because the popular ice cream shop makes 60% of its revenue between May and September.

“I can’t complain, there’s too many other businesses not able to open or closed permanently, takeout is a hard gig,” Davis said. “It’s not an easy task keeping those french fries warm and crisp. So once again I’m lucky having pints where they’re just frozen solid. People can travel with them 20, 30 minutes.”

Davis might not be able to have the grand opening for the Kendall Yards store she would want now. In fact, she isn’t even putting much into advertising the location, relying on word-of-mouth. But she is sure that once the community is safe again, she’ll throw a big party for this milestone.