The Scoop Uptown St. Augustine’s Vintage Ice Cream Shop

Have you seen the cool logo with pelicans on the storefront window on San Marco? Well, that’s the new Ice Cream Shop in Uptown St. Augustine and I had the pleasure of meeting Brent Beckett, the man behind that cool logo to talk about his plans for The Scoop to be more than just an ice cream shop but a place for the local community.

Brent Beckett, Owner of The Scoop

What inspired you to open The Scoop?

My past experience was in marketing and I had a branding company for twenty years in Portsmouth NH. I would visit St. Augustine for vacation over the years and felt that Portsmouth was about fifteen years ahead of St. Augustine so I could see the potential here. When I finally made the decision to stop marketing for other businesses, I decided to devote my energies to my own thing. I knew St. Augustine would be the place I’d move to; my family is from out west, so I love the laid-back vibe here. When it came to starting my own business, ice cream was not the first thing that popped in my mind. I chose it because I loved the Uptown area for it’s cool and funky feel and felt an ice cream shop would round out the area well. Once I decided on ice cream, I started to work on the brand…the Pelican.

Why the pelican for your logo and brand?

Our logo is a Pelican because a group of Pelicans is called a Scoop. The logo has the pelican, the apparel has it, and what better brand in St. Augustine then a coastal bird like the Pelican.

What makes The Scoop different from other ice cream shops?

We carry delicious Hershey’s ice cream, we have signature milkshakes, sorbet for the lactose intolerant, and cool apparel, but the plan is for this to be an interactive place for the locals to hang and feel at home. Being in marketing, I worked on all the branding first, decorating the space with graphics in a vintage, beach vibe in the hope of creating an experience when customers come into the shop. I want people moving around the space, taking pictures, having fun, meeting other people, posting to social media, and promoting different hashtags like #lickitlikealocal.

Tell me about the brand and the apparel you carry.

Apparel has always been a sideline business for me, so we created an area for all the hats, t-shirts, and tanks. We’ll constantly be building up the apparel with other ideas too. They make for great souvenirs because people want to remember not only the city they visited but a particular place. All of the apparel will have St. Augustine on them.

What are your goals with the shop?

We want this to be a place for locals. Obviously, we want the tourists but we want the locals to have a place to come and feel at home.

About the Author
Kim Devlin
Kim Devlin is Your St Augustine Realtor. A Relocation Specialist serving Northeast Florida, St Johns County and Flagler County. She enjoys sharing real estate tips and local insight on communities and living in St Augustine Florida. Tune in weekly and be sure to subscribe to her monthly newsletter.