Stucchi's Ice Cream To Reopen in New College Corner
Yearning for a scoop of Scottish Pride ice cream? Alma business owners Mark and Jan Knowles plan to reopen their Stucchi’s Ice Cream counter in a new location on Superior Street in Alma — as early as the first weekend of July.
College Corner Coffee and Books, the newly named and refurbished building located on the corner of Superior Street and Wright Avenue, is the new home for Stucchi’s Ice Cream.
Alma College purchased the former Kentwood Pharmacy building in March and began immediate renovations. The east half of the building will feature a café, managed by Mark and Jan Knowles, featuring an assortment of Stucchi’s Ice Cream flavors, gourmet coffee, hot dogs, French fries, soft drinks, smoothies and shakes along with wraps and Panini sandwiches.
New windows feature views of campus.
The west half of the building will feature a bookstore, managed by Alma College, offering textbooks for students and general books, magazines, newspapers, school apparel and supplies for the public.
The College is targeting an early July opening for the café, pending final construction and inspections. The bookstore portion of the building won’t open until December. The College bookstore, Kiltie Korner, will remain at its current campus location in the Tyler-VanDusen Campus Center until the end of the fall semester.
College Corner Coffee and Books will include the bookstore.
The reopening of Stucchi’s will be a happy occasion for the Knowles. Their original shop location was destroyed by fire last October.
“We are so glad to bring Stucchi’s back to the community,” says Jan Knowles. “We have been entrenched in Alma for many years, and we’ve missed everyone. We are excited to reopen Stucchi’s, see our old friends, make new friends and connect with the College while also serving our community. This is going to be fun.”
Stucchi's will sell ice cream, coffee, wraps and sandwiches.
Both the Knowles and College administrators stress that College Corner Coffee and Books will serve both the Alma community and Alma College. All are welcome.
“This building is an attempt to bring the community and campus together,” says Alma College President Jeff Abernathy. “This is a place for everyone, open to all. The building more closely links the Alma downtown area with the College. I couldn’t be more pleased with this outcome and congratulate Mark and Jan on the reopening of Stucchi’s. We couldn’t have designed and built the café without the Knowles’ help. It has been a true partnership.”
The café features an ice cream and food counter along with a seating area and mini-stage for small gatherings and performances. The building’s original drive-through counter has been retained for morning coffee orders and call-in special order pickups. An outdoor patio is planned in front of the building along Superior Street.
A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for later in the summer.
Posted: Mon, June 6th, 2011 at 12:16PM
