Tasty Treat played nasty trick on ice cream lovers
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Customers looking for a treat might be in for a trick when they return to the spot of a favorite East Lansing ice cream shop.
Tasty Twist opened its doors in a new location, 1137 E. Grand River Ave., this spring after spending more than 50 years in the same Grand River Avenue location. But the choice to move wasn’t voluntary, as the owners of the property and its adjacent Citgo gas station, 1301 E. Grand River Ave., told Tasty Twist owner Scott King the classic-looking ice cream shop would be torn down to expand the gas station, King said. Shortly after moving out of the old building, a new ice cream shop named Tasty Treat opened up with a strikingly similar blue awning and font. The owner of Tasty Treat could not be reached for comment.
The new Tasty Treat might be trying to replicate the formula of success used by the established, family-run Tasty Twist. But setting up shop in the same location with a name only three letters different seems more than a little deceptive. Keen-eyed ice cream shoppers might be aware of this ruse, but this clearly appears to be a plan to profit off of the established customer base that Tasty Twist had built in its 50-plus years of service in that location. Any conscientious ice cream consumer who cares about supporting local businesses should frequent Tasty Twist at their new location, assuring the owners that customer loyalty is as strong as ever.
This situation might be different if Tasty Twist went out of business and the new shop was a tribute to its years of service. But there really is no excuse that justifies Tasty Treat blatantly copying the exterior of Tasty Twist, especially after forcing the owners out after expressing the plan to tear down the original building. They say that imitation is sincerest form of flattery, but this isn’t flattering to anyone — it’s downright stealing.
If the property owner’s plan to tear down the building was real, why open up another ice cream shop?
Citgo’s property owners said that Tasty Treat was opened to help pay the bills for property. But an ethical business should work hard to establish the customer base and provide a quality product. Tasty Treat might not be stealing ice cream or money, but it is stealing customers — which can be just as unethical.
Out-of-towners and new students might not be aware of the stories behind the two soft serve shops and have no loyalty to one or the other, but Tasty Twist and its owners know thousands of loyal customers have their backs. When the shop was unaware of what was to become of the store in the winter, more than 11,000 people joined a Facebook group dedicated to Tasty Twist. And more recently, there have been active campaigns to alert customers of the change in location, so they won’t be confused by the similar branding of the two shops.
Anyone who supports a long established business and doesn’t want to aid a rather deceptive ice cream endeavor should avoid Tasty Treat and enjoy their ice cream at the new Tasty Twist location.
Commentary
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pirate_king
(03/18/10 7:12pm)Report
@state news:
“Keen-eyed ice cream shoppers might be aware of this rouse”
It’s “ruse”, not “rouse”. Correct spelling please!!
WHERE ARE THE ACTUAL QUOTES FROM MULTANI?
(03/18/10 9:25pm)Report
This does not make any sense. Will the State News ask the owners of the old location THEIR side of the story, before characterizing their actions as malicious or Nasty? There have been many requests by your readers for more information, because there have been many questions unanswered, because they have NEVER BEEN ASKED! Where are the quotes from the Multani group?
Providing unsubstantiated opinions, without sufficient information, is a journalistic transgression, and just plain old lazy.
OWNERS of 1301 E. Grand River: MP SP MULTANI LLC 1301 (Citgo) and 1307 (Tasty Treats) E GRAND RIVER AVE EAST LANSING, MI 48823
1307 E. Grand River VAN VLECK TASTY TWIST 13286 WHITE PINE DR DEWITT, MI 48820 KING, PATRICIA (NOT SCOTT KING) 13286 WHITE PINE DR DEWITT, MI 48820Read carefully
(03/19/10 1:24am)Report
There are no actual quotes from the property owners at the old location because they could not be reached for comment. And, this is an opinion piece.
BOYCOTT
(03/19/10 9:00am)Report
there is no need to hear from tasty treat. they’re greedy business owners that saw a way to make a buck. i hope all their business ventures fail. boycott tasty treat!
Tasty treat sucks
(03/19/10 4:14pm)Report
I went there. Not worth it. Never again.
OPINIONS based on a lack of facts. No QUOTES! No FACTS!
(03/19/10 8:26pm)Report
Could not be reached for comment? Therefore, you published your opinion, a rush to judgement, because you are too lazy to wait to find out the truth? Both sides of the issue? Pathetic! Your opinion should still be buttressed by facts, not weakened by your laziness. Besides, we are talking ice cream here, an important matter, so next time please just have Ted Staton and Vic Loomis tell you what to write, like normal. Have them pick side, either Twist or Treats. Have a poll. You have no ethical standards to present the truth at all. Just an unlimited budget, without regard to readership demand. Must be nice. Hope that strategy works for you in the real world. Yeah, actually, a writer for the New York Times tried that once. Making crap up. Did not work out so well though, did it?
Lauren
(03/20/10 8:50pm)Report
^^^
This is an OPINION piece. Do you know what that means?
Soft-serve
(03/21/10 11:01am)Report
We’re talking about soft-serve ice cream shops here, right? What is the difference? All soft-serve is the same. It’s not like either of them offer anything special, it all just a pre-made mix that comes out of a machine. But ohhhh! Look at all the toppings!
This is like promoting one gas station cappuccino machine over another and calling it good coffee. I think real “conscientious ice cream consumers” would have better taste and know the difference.
common sense
(03/21/10 2:29pm)Report
Haha, looks like that Citgo owner found this opinion piece.“Multani group” lol?
Soft serve isn’t my thing but I like ma and pa places, so I’ll go to the original next time.
tasty truth
(03/22/10 1:10am)Report
truth is the owners of the gas/ice cream station lost their liquor license and needed a revenue stream so they booted scott king when his lease was up. capitalism at its finest.
QUALITY DAIRY ICE CREAM IS THE SHIZNIT!!!!
(03/22/10 3:41pm)Report
You cannot beat the yummy, fresh, and generous scoops of real hand dipped ice cream from Quality Dairy! And you cannot beat the price. Plus, they have their liquor license too. BooYa!
MaximumBob
(03/23/10 4:01pm)Report
“Ice cream lovers” wouldn’t be caught dead at either Twist or Treat.
Tasty Treat Rock!!! facebook group.
(03/23/10 8:01pm)Report
been to tasty twist many time. every time i went there never got treated right . also heard tasty treat is gettting a really good product and will keep much beter price. just go down to the station and talk to the people there they are really nice people they have to support the bussiness as whole. scott king the owner of the tasty twist was offred to buy the property and never wnated to . I made a group called Tasty Treat Rock!!! please become a fan.
Tasty Treat Rocks!!!
(03/23/10 8:06pm)Report
I made a Group Supporting Tasty treat please join.http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Tasty-Treat-Rocks/328356715917?ref=ts