Baskin's Ice Cream Shop / Baskin's Kream Kastle, 59 Powe Street: December 2018









A few months ago, there was an article in The Link about this piece of land, including the J&K, an old gas station, and (I think) some warehouses that used to belong to B.C. Moore, being donated to the town, and I wondered how this would affect Kream Kastle, which I think may have still been open. Though I had hoped that somehow the only ice cream shop in town would survive, sadly that is not to be. I don't imagine the folks who owned the place made much of a profit at all off ice cream. It was likely more of a passion, which only goes so far when suddenly you're faced with having to find another location to place your business.

Hoping for some ice cream after a trip to Rockingham, my wife and I pulled up to the place, and the lack of a sign on the front of the building was the first indicator this Kream Kastle was a goner. That fact soon became obvious upon walking up to the window and seeing most everything removed from inside the building, as can be seen in the pictures.

I've only been to Kream Kastle two or three times in my life: a couple as a kid and once with my wife when we were visiting and hadn't moved back yet. For a while in the 1990s, there was this place and another ice cream shop across the street, but catty-cornered, called Suggs. Although I am not sure how long Kream Kastle had been around, I do know that it was in town before Suggs and obviously some years afterward until recently.

Even though I keep calling it an ice cream shop, apparently Kream Kastle also sold some short-order items like hamburgers and hot dogs, based on the pictures on the building. Still, I think they were more known for being really the only ice cream shop in town for most of its existence. Looking at some review sites online, it appears that Kream Kastle was closed by the end of 2018 because one review mentioned it being closed back in December.

Hwy 55 appears to have ice cream and shakes so I suppose that leaves one place in town for frozen treats. There's also Dairy Queen in Rockingham and McLeod Farms in McBee, if one cares to drive down the road.

UPDATE: Thanks to Barbara Turnage Hall for pointing out that this ice cream store was previously called Baskin's Ice Cream Shop and run by her uncle. I have updated the title of this blog post accordingly.

Comments

By: Barbara Turnage Hall (Fri Oct 9 12:52:40 EDT 2020)
The Kream Castle was baskins Ice Cream shope for many years and before that my Uncle Woodro Turner owned the lease until he died. I believe sometime in the 80's. I can find out the exact dates. Those records are not at my fingertips presently.
My Uncle had it for many years.
He also ran the Cheraw Theater, The Chesterfield Theater, The Windsor Resturant and that was the first resturant in Cheraw to offer a Buffet meal. Later it began serving the Lunch and the dinner buffett. It catered to weddings and Fly in's in the huge private dinning rooms.
By: sean (Sat Oct 10 19:08:00 EDT 2020)
@Barbara Turnage Hall, Thanks for stopping by. I will be sure to add Baskins Ice Cream Shop to the title of the post. It is certainly interesting to learn that your uncle ran Baskins, the two theaters, and that restaurant. Was The Windsor Restaurant located next to Windsor Drive in the old BI-LO shopping center? If so, do you remember in which storefront at that shopping center?