Popular local ice cream shop A La Minute closes

A La Minute team members wrote an announcement in the shop window in early March notifying the community about the closure. Photo by Gabriella Anderson

Los Angeles chain Afters Ice Cream is set to take the place of A La Minute, located in the historic Old Towne Orange Plaza, recently closed. 

Situated among the area’s antique shops and retail stores, the ice cream shop was known for unconventional flavors like beet, avocado and vanilla with olive oil. A La Minute closed March 22, had a 4.5 star rating on Yelp and was a go-to for some Chapman students. 

One of the shop’s draws was its unique use of liquid nitrogen, which was poured over the ice cream mixture to eliminate ice crystals, making it creamier. Established in 2012, the ice cream shop used organic milk and locally sourced ingredients. 

Minna Thrall, former shift lead at A La Minute and junior history major at Chapman, told The Panther that the shop’s closing was due to increased rent and slow business. 

“(Employees) were all expecting that we were going to be closing at some point because business is slow, but we were thinking it was going to be more toward summer, because that’s when we get a lot of business,” she said. 

Employees were told by the shop’s owners at a March 8 meeting that Afters Ice Cream had bought the location, with the transition expected to happen in April. 

Afters Ice Cream, which has 24 locations across California, offers flavors of ice cream like cookie monster, which is a blue-colored vanilla ice cream with cookie bits, and milk and cereal, along with the store’s popular ice cream sandwich, the Milky Bun, a sliced glazed donut with ice cream in between the halves. 

“All of our customers (have come) in asking if this is permanent and are very upset. People really love this ice cream, so it’s really hard to see it go,” said Thrall, who has been working at A La Minute for a year and a half. 

Elly Aronson, a junior news and documentary major, said she was surprised to hear about the shop’s closing.

“One of the first times I visited Chapman, my mom and I went to A La Minute,” she said. “It was so good, and one of the first memories I have in the Circle. It will definitely be missed.” 

The remaining A La Minute shops are located in Redlands, Temecula and Claremont, with the Redlands location about 30 minutes away from campus. 

“We (had) a lot of regulars who come in and we all know them by name … we are grateful for this community we have had around us,” Thrall said.