Locopops will close its Raleigh and Chapel Hill locations due to shrinking income and high renovation costs.
The Locopops store in Durham will remain open, but owner, Summer Bicknell, chose to concentrate on wholesale vending in the Raleigh and Chapel Hill areas.
Freddie Schultz, a senior in psychology and Locopops employee at the Hillsborough Street branch, said employees from both stores received emails announcing the closure.
“I was told in the email that we’re closing partially because it’s been quieter and we’ve been vending in a lot of places now, like Pullen Place across the street,” Schultz said. We’ve also been doing a lot more events, so we’re leaning more towards wholesale.”
Locopops posted a comment on its Facebook page Wednesday to further describe the store’s changing business model.
“When we started, brick-and-mortar locations made the most sense.But customer feedback tells [us] that folks increasingly want to enjoy Locopops during festivals, farmers markets, ball games, etc. and they want the convenience of grabbing a pop or pint while they’re shopping for other items or getting a coffee,” the post read. “They’re less and less likely to make a special trip for one item. This trend prompted me to explore new delivery models.
Locopops in Raleigh has experienced increasing vending sales during Schultz’s two-year tenure with the store, and said most of its money comes from doing wholesale business.
The Chapel Hill location is closing for similar reasons, according to Schultz, although he doesn’t know the details.
However, Schultz said the main reason for closing the Raleigh store, which opened in 2006, is because their landlord, “isn’t really helping [them] with remodeling the place.”
He didn’t know specifics about the renovation project, but said closing the store was an easy option.
“Our lease is up, so we’ve been going month to month for a little while now. So were just going to close up at the end of the month so we don’t have to deal with the [decreased business] in winter.”
Schultz, who won’t be officially hired when the Raleigh Locopops closes, said his future with the store is uncertain.
“You’ll probably see me around at a couple of events, and I may work a couple of shifts at the Durham store,” Schultz said. “I’m going to be off the pay roll for most of it.”
Locopops was founded by Bicknell in 2005. She grew up in New Jersey and went to Mexico to learn popsicle-making techniques. The trip inspired the store’s Mexican-influenced name and some of the flavors, according to Schultz.
“She was on her way back from Mexico, stopped in Durham to get gas and decided it would be a great place to open up a store,” Schultz said.
Locopops will still be available in Raleigh at Pullen Place Café at Pullen Park, NOFO at the Pig, Rebus Works Gallery, For Your Convenience, Spize Café, POGO at Marbles Kids Museum and at The Q Shack at North Hills Mall.
