Clarendon’s newest ice cream parlor is off to a roaring start, attracting throngs of customers from throughout the region just weeks after opening.
Beginning with a grand opening on June 6 that broke attendance records for the franchise, The Scoop N Scootery (1138 N. Irving Street) has been enjoying a welcome as big and sweet as its generous offerings — benefitting from a strong social media presence, enthusiastic customer base and prime location.
“Our customers have been awesome, bringing a lot of energy, curiosity and just [being] super excited to have a sundae,” franchisee Ryan Majdalawieh told ARLnow. “It’s been really awesome to serve them.”
The attention has been essentially nonstop, Majdalawieh said. Some customers start lining up around 30 minutes to an hour before the ice cream shop even opens at 3 p.m., and the queue often continues until the shop closes at 2 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday (or 10 p.m. on Sunday).
“It’s usually between a 30 minute and an hour 30 minute wait, [but] we move them real fast,” Majdalawieh said. “A lot of people are kind of surprised that we’re moving that fast, given the amount of people that are actually in line.”
View this post on Instagram
The business is currently only available for in-person orders, but it plans to launch a delivery option later in the summer.
Several factors have been working in the shop’s favor so far, Majdalawieh said.
For one thing, he said, it’s a “strategic location,” just a couple blocks from the Clarendon Metro station and the heart of the neighborhood’s nightlife scene. The brand also has a strong TikTok following that takes advantage of its eye-catching, jumbo-sized offerings, and it invested heavily in targeted marketing prior to the business’s opening.
“We went very heavy into our posts, our videos, did some very cool, trendy stuff, showed off our sundaes, and then partnered with local influencers,” he said.
Also playing to the location’s advantage is the fact that, by coincidence, The Scoop N Scootery has another shop in the town of Arlington, Mass., which made it show up on locals’ feeds before the Clarendon spot was ever planned.
And of course, there’s the ice cream itself, which features powerful flavor combinations loaded with treats like buttercream and house-made whips and frostings.
“The way I describe it to people is, if you told a kid to make an ice cream shop, that’s kind of what The Scoop N Scootery is like,” Majdalawieh said. “It’s just a lot of vibrant colors, a lot of great combinations of flavors — and you know, it’s a big reason why we decided to bring it here, and why the brand resonated with me so much. I like how in-your-face it is.”
View this post on Instagram
Customer favorites in Clarendon include “That Thicc Boi” — made with chocolate ice cream, brownies, chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate frosting — and “Smokey Da Bear,” with toasted marshmallow ice cream, graham cracker and chocolate flake swirl, and toppings such as marshmallow fluff, brownie bites and Nutella sauce.
The sundaes are bringing in visitors not just from Clarendon and elsewhere in Arlington, but from Fairfax and Loudoun counties, or even as far away as Annapolis and Charlottesville, Majdalawieh said.
Majdalawieh, a first-time restaurateur, said he has been “overwhelmingly humbled” by the local community’s response to The Scoop N Scootery.
“The support of the customers and the local businesses and the community altogether has made things truly spectacular,” he said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Photos 1-7 via The Scoop N Scootery/Instagram; photos 8-9 via The Scoop N Scootery/Facebook
