Soda Fountain was a little building in the middle of a little town with big dreams. Soda Fountain opened up in mid-September, but it closed seven months later.
The inside of this little building was unique; it had an old-fashioned diner look. Despite its name, it wasn’t much known for their sodas, but more for their ice cream and food. They served sandwiches and wraps, along with old fashioned candies and sodas.
Their biggest product was almost certainly the swirl freezes. They were basically a root beer float with a soda of your choosing.
Another thing they were known for were their specialty drinks. They were unique and had names like “Turtle Beach” and “Bahama Mama.”
The store wasn’t like most of the other soda places that are around Sanpete County, such as Fizz or Sip It. Rather, they took the same approach as Biggie’s, including both a walk-in or drive-up option.
When such a nice store shuts down only seven months after it opens, there are naturally many questions about the reason for the closure.
“When we opened up and we did pretty well, but then the winter came around and people stopped coming because we wouldn’t sell so much,” said one of the employees, who prefers not to be named. “Our boss was scared that he wasn’t going to be able to make the payment even after the manager offered some great ideas to bring in customers. He calls me on Friday and tells me that he closed up, no more details, and that was the end of it.”
Jamie Thompson, the manager of the store, offered additional insight on the fate of the store.
“The guy who owns it is from up north in Salt Lake and he owns a bunch of other businesses,” Thompson said, “and he decided he just didn’t want this one anymore. He decided it was too much for him and he closed it.”
Though the store itself didn’t do so well, the manager thought that the greatest thing in the store was not only food but her team she had working there with her.
“All the employees we had there made it great!” Thompson said. “I was only great because of them.”