After operating an ice cream truck in the Twin Ports for seven summers, a Duluth couple are opening their first brick-and-mortar store this weekend.
The King of Creams ice cream shop and burger restaurant opens Saturday at 502 E. Fourth St. in Duluth. It'll be open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. with longer hours in the summer.
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"We wanted to open our first spot in the Hillside because it is one of our best neighborhoods," said Rebecca Powe, who owns the business with her husband, Courtland. "The Hillside and Lincoln Park are our best neighborhoods. In the summertime, they're very populated with a lot of kids and families. There's a lot of people outside, barbecuing and getting together. They're always supporting us in those neighborhoods."
Even with the restaurant opening, their ice cream trucks - they'll have two this year - will be back on the streets this summer in Duluth, Superior and Proctor.
The store's food menu will be an expansion of what they offer at their concessions truck which has a mini-kitchen and goes to large local events. That's in addition to their ice cream trucks.
At the restaurant, they'll have 16 flavors of Cedar Crest premium ice cream, a rainbow sherbet, frozen yogurt and malts. The food menu will include burgers, Philadelphia-style cheesesteak sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, fries, onion rings and deep-fried pickles.
Prices include $1.99 for a single-scoop ice cream cone, $2.89 for two scoops, $3.99 for a basic burger, $6.99 for a cheesesteak sandwich, $1.99 for fries and $3.79 for child-size malts, $5.79 for regular-size ones.
To celebrate the store's grand opening, every item on the menu will be half-price this Saturday and Sunday.
All in the family
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The King of Creams is a family operation. The couple, who both are 37 and have a blended family of six children, will work at the restaurant. Courtland's mother and brother also will work there until summertime, when they'll drive the ice cream trucks. Four of the couple's children then will pick up the slack and work at the store this summer.
Opening a restaurant has long been a dream of Courtland's.
"He wanted to do an ice cream truck, a sit-down ice cream shop and a good cheesesteak place - the kind of things he thought were missing in Duluth," his wife said.
When Courtland started operating the The King of Creams ice cream truck in 2008, it was the first one seen in Duluth neighborhoods in probably a decade.
"My thoughts were, there hadn't been an ice cream truck in this area," Courtland said. "The thought in the back of my head was, if no one else was going to do it, I would. After I had the truck, I thought it would be neat to go from a truck to a store. It gives us the best of both worlds. And if the opportunity ever presented itself, I was going to open a cheesesteak place."
Finding a site
With the ice cream truck business going well, the couple started looking for a store location in 2013. A storefront at the corner of Fourth Street and Fifth Avenue East in Duluth was their first choice.
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A Quiznos sandwich shop had just moved out and the space wouldn't require any build out, just some painting, personalizing and the installation of a kitchen with cooking capabilities out front where customers could see.
But the Twins Bar, with its high volume of police calls, was across the street.
"That was absolutely a concern for us, but it did not deter us," Courtland said.
They weren't able to reach the property manager at that time, however. So they continued their search, looking at a few other sites in Duluth and Superior before coming back to the Hillside site late last year.
This time, they were pleasantly surprised.
The space they wanted was under new, more reachable management. And the bar across the street was now The Break Room and under new ownership. It had gotten a makeover and was now a classy pool hall with a conduct and dress code.
The Break Room co-owner Dan Witzman said he continues to get positive responses from local residents and those from nearby businesses who come in.
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"They tell us all the time how much it's changed," he said. "We're a different venue, completely different from even 10 years ago."
Those who drop in include Debby and Mike Strop, owners of Uncle Loui's Cafe across the street.
"They've really cleaned it up," Debby Strop said of the place. "It's a nice neighborhood bar now."
She's also happy to see The King of Creams opening a few doors down from her business. Since Uncle Loui's caters to the breakfast crowd while The King of Creams will open later, they won't be direct competition.
"It gives people other options and a good place to have ice cream," she said. "I hope it does well. The more businesses we get on Fourth Street that promote a healthy, happy street, I think it's great."
Witzman echoed similar thoughts.
"It will help bring people to this area, and that's what all the businesses in this area hope for," he said. "We want people to feel safe coming here. So having a business like that is positive for all of us."
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To make the The King of Creams restaurant a reality, Courtland Powe left his job as a mechanical maintenance supervisor.
But it will be worth it if the restaurant takes off.
"If we get a good response at this location, we can see ourselves definitely expanding, maybe with one or two more locations," he said.

1/4:Rebecca and Courtland Powe are opening their King of Creams restaurant at 502 East Fourth St. in Duluth on Saturday. It is the first brick-and-mortar shop for the couple, who have operated The King of Creams ice cream truck in the Twin Ports since 2008. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com

2/4:Courtland Powe scoops rainbow sherbet into a cone for his son. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com

3/4:The Powes' 3-year-old son, Courtland, enjoys a rainbow sherbet cone at their ice cream and burger shop, The King of Creams, which will open Saturday. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com

4/4:The King of Creams, 502 East Fourth St. in Duluth opens Saturday and will be open seven days a week. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com