Here’s the scoop about BYU’s bigger, better creamery

Provo • When C. Shane Reese took his first phone call as president of Brigham Young University, it wasn’t about budgets, curriculum or enrollment.

It was about ice cream.

Turns out, as head of the Provo school, he had the deliciously distinct dietary duty of dreaming up his own flavor.

He settled on a mouth-watering combination of Dutch chocolate, marshmallow swirl and brownie chunks — dubbed the “In-Shane-ly Chocolate.”

It’s available now — along with other tantalizing versions of the school’s signature dairy dessert — at the brand-new BYU Creamery on Ninth, which celebrated its grand opening Monday.

“It will be a remarkable gathering place for this campus,” Reese said. “And so we are thrilled that you are all here to ring in this historic occasion of this new Creamery on Ninth.”

After the ribbon-cutting, attendees poured into the new establishment at 1209 N. 900 East in Provo to browse the major upgrades.

For starters, the new building is 71% larger and, besides all that ice cream, boasts expanded bakery and produce sections.

The restaurant has a larger seating area with an outdoor patio and a walk-up window. In this outdoor seating area, heaters were added for winters and a misting system for summers.

The creamery’s new 300-student workforce will continue the store’s mission: catering to half a million customers and selling 1.5 million servings of ice cream a year.

The creamery also added a new dessert: the “Cougar Paw,” an ice cream bar dipped in chocolate.

New parking accommodations will be made after crews demolish the original building nearby. When that structure is gone, BYU alumni worldwide will remember the original Creamery on Ninth.

Constructed in 1954, the first creamery, formerly known as Carson’s Market and subsequently Kent’s Market, was transformed from a wooden shack into a community gathering place.

BYU acquired the building in 1999 and reopened the store in 2000 as the Creamery on Ninth.

Since then, BYU has opened several mini-creameries across campus, but the new building will be the university’s new flagship grocery store.

And while students may not retain much from their statistics class, Reese said, they will long remember the memories they shared at the creamery.

And, no doubt, the flavors they savored.