OAKLAND — Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Parlor & Cafe, which has been in Oakland since it was founded more than 90 years ago, is closing its flagship parlor in the Rockridge neighborhood on Friday.
Changing tastes and artisan offerings make it tough to compete, according to the owners.
While there’s still something nostalgic about a hot fudge sundae or a strawberry milkshake, Dreyer’s, with its grocery-store accessibility, didn’t attract much foot traffic on busy College Avenue.
“I’ve been wondering when it was going to close, especially with so many ice cream shops in the area,” San Francisco Chronicle food writer Janelle Bitker said to KCBS Radio.
Legacy brands like Dreyer’s are vatly different than artisan offerings like from Smitten or from Salt & Straw, Bitker said.
“People are trying to make everything more experiential, and I think an ice cream shop is no different,” Bitker said. “People want something they aren’t going to get from a grocery store, whether that’s liquid nitrogen, rolled ice cream or really unusual flavors like peanut butter curry.”
KCBS Food and Wine Editor Narsai David remembers when Dreyer’s, which had been operated locally, was sold to Nestlé in 2003.
“The corporate structure with Nestlé was such that this was just a scoop shop that could have been anywhere else,” he said.
A tantalizing sign on the window says "something big is coming" to the location, but doesn't offer any clues.
