40 years ago, Mike Richards took a gamble…and created a legend. He bought a restaurant, and opened it on Valentine’s Day 1980. As his widow, and former manager Sally told me, "That was the day he said, 'We're opening the restaurant today.' And I said, 'Oh, thank you. Happy Valentine’s day to me!" But it paid off from the very beginning. Sally told me, "Our first day here was a $700 day. We thought we hit the big time!”
Today, it looks just like it did back then…a drive-in, A&W style on Prater Way, Scoopers is proudly old school, with top-class comfort food ordered from a front window. Colin Richards, Scoopers Owner-Operator says very little has changed: "Just some outside decor...the inside of the dining room. The kitchen's exactly the same as it was in 1980."
Mike and Sally had no extensive restaurant management experience. But that also became their greatest asset. They just went by what they'd like as customers. Scoopers has always been family-owned and family-run. Mike and Sally's kids worked the counter before they were teenagers. There were no specific job titles. Shawn Richards says they did “Whatever needed to be done. You know, sweep the lot. Put the fries away. Cook some food, whatever."
Shawn and Colin are the owner-operators now, but often work the grill. Very often…the place on Prater Way hasn’t gotten any bigger. But this week Sally and her family are celebrating the risk their family took, as they commemorate the 40th anniversary of this hometown favorite. And despite all the competing restaurants in our growing town, it still thrives...with burgers and fries.
They're most famous for the shakes. They say they put no air in theirs…its really just soft-serve ice cream, what used to be called a “frosty”. But when you ask what the secret of success has been here, they say it’s not just the food. Sally says, “Mostly it’s the people who work for us. They try try try to be friendly with everybody."
And the place is even better known, for being the "first job" for hundreds of Sparks kids. Sally says, “They leave for better jobs, and then bring their kids to work for us for their first job. We're the first job.” The kids learn the basics of the working world. Their biggest lesson: how to work with the public, which is a bit of a school itself.
40 years later, what would Sparks be without Scoopers? We will never know. Sally says, “Now we get those kids with their kids and we get those kids with their kids." But as Colin told me, "I think it's more 'What would Scoopers be without Sparks, because we would not be here, if it wasn't for these people."
Scoopers is celebrating anniversary specials all this week, with buy-1, get-1 for 40% off shakes tomorrow (Wednesday).
