Frite & Scoop, the gourmet ice cream shop that opened in Astoria nearly four years ago, is expanding to Forest Grove.
Lisa and Kevin Malcolm moved to Astoria from Seattle several years ago and opened Frite & Scoop, serving ice cream and Belgian-style fries, or frites. Earlier this year, the Malcolms opened a seasonal ice cream cart at the Astoria Column through Labor Day weekend.
“We’ve been busier than we’ve ever been before,” Lisa Malcolm said. “We were more than twice as busy as we were last year. It feels like we’re bursting at the buttons a bit.”
The Malcolms had resisted expanding to a second location, worried they would not be able to recreate the magic of their shop on the Astoria Riverwalk.
On a recent visit to Forest Grove for the first time, they noticed a vacant storefront at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Main Street downtown, a block away from Pacific University. They later learned the space had previously hosted another ice cream shop, Connie’s Corner Cafe, and fell in love with the idea of opening a shop there.
The Malcolms have made a habit of hiring local high schoolers. Their first employee from four years ago, Macen Fritz, had graduated and moved to Forest Grove to attend community college in Hillsboro. They reached out and hired Fritz to make their ice cream in Forest Grove. Another employee, Kylee Winlund, was offered the store manager position in exchange for moving to Forest Grove.
“It’s pretty wild,” Lisa Malcolm said of being able to promote from within. “We had a going-away party for Macen. We thought that was it, but then it just fell in our laps.”
The Malcolms will begin the buildout of the new shop in September and hope to open by Thanksgiving. In addition to their existing ice cream, the new shop will offer vegan soft serve and espresso.
Frite & Scoop joins a small list of coastal companies that have expanded into the Portland metro area. Gimre’s Shoe Store, started in Astoria, has a location in Hillsboro. Seaside-based Pig ’N Pancake has a location in Portland.