A new venture by Alex Teece ’04 is widening smiles in the Bay Area

It’s amazing what a simple nudge can do. Just ask Alex Teece ’04—his latest venture came as the result of a suggestion from his mother-in-law. Teece, who formerly ran a charter school in Hawaii, recently switched gears and became the owner and operator of Lafayette Scoop in Lafayette, California, where he lives with his wife, Stephanie, and their three little kids. We caught up with Teece to ask him a few questions about running an ice cream parlor.

What made you want to open an ice cream shop?

Long story short, last summer my mother-in-law wondered why we don’t have an ice cream shop in town. I told her I had no idea—I’m from the hills of Western Massachusetts. She then asked me “Why don’t you build one?” I told her that my last venture was a public charter school. I don’t think I’m an ice cream person or a restaurateur or that I’d do very well in retail. But she got me thinking about the idea. She said, “Well, just give it a try.” So my wife and I spent about a year designing and fundraising, and I kept waiting for that moment that was going to show me I can’t open an ice cream shop—but that moment just never came. We opened in July, and it’s been an amazing journey ever since.

What’s on the menu?

We have seven local ice cream partners from across the Bay Area. We have hand-packed pints people can buy and homemade waffle cones, which is a fun addition. One interesting variation on our menu is hand-whisked iced matcha. We partner with a café called Third Culture Bakery of Berkeley, and they provide us with their ceremonial, premium blend matcha, which we hand whisk on-site with syrups made in-house.

What’s has surprised you?

Giving people ice cream is really a joyful thing. Typically, no one goes and gets ice cream if they’re mad. The majority of our customers come in with a smile on their faces, and our goal is
to continue that smile and make it a little wider on the way out the door.  We have about 90 seconds with people, so our work is pretty simple: good ice cream, matcha, and experience in our shop.

What’s popular on the menu right now?

Right now, it’s fall flavors. We have four different variations of pumpkin ice cream on our menu, from four separate ice cream makers. People come in and their first comment is, “Why do you have so many pumpkin ice creams?” And their second comment is, “All of these are so good—how do I choose between them?” And then our matcha is starting to take off as well. We started by making only one or two a day, and now it’s closer to 20.

How sweet is it running a business that partners with other small businesses in your area?

It’s the best. These are all handshake deals that are built on trust, and I went out and engaged with every single owner of every ice cream shop who sells to us. For many of them, they’ve never done this before. Not only do people love coming to The Scoop for ice cream, they love Mitchell’s ice cream, or they love Curbside Creamery ice cream, so it’s really an awesome shared appreciation of each brand.

When you got the shop ready to open, which ice cream did you try first?

The first ice cream I tried was mango ice cream from Mitchell’s—and it’s the best ice cream I’ve ever had.