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Special Events

90 Years of

Pappy’s Sweet Shop

At Purdue

appy’s Sweet Shop has been a popular spot on the campus we average about 1,250 customers a day,” she said.
Pof Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., for 90 years. Ice cream has been a mainstay at the location since it first
“Pappy’s first opened in 1927,” said Shannen Jordan, op- opened in 1927. “Purdue Creamery Ice Cream has been a
erations manager for Pappy’s. “The reason that Pappy’s has common theme with Pappy’s,” said Jordan. “It has been used
survived the years is because it has evolved according to the in the Sweet Shop since day one. Although we now source
needs of the students. It started out as a place to grab a bite to it from a local provider, we are still using the original recipe
eat for lunch and served a lot of coffee — they served about that provided Pappy’s with ice cream in the past.”
155 gallons a week when it first opened.” The location sells about 100 milkshakes a day. In fact,
In the 1930s, it became what is now considered to be an having a Pappy’s milk shake is featured in a student-created
old-fashioned soda fountain. “It was a really popular place list of things to do before you graduate.
to meet a date and ‘Coke dates’ were really popular then,” A recent addition to the offerings is a line of fudge made
she said. “They served 5-ounce glasses of Coke and had a on campus by student employees. “We get our fudge from
jukebox and kids danced.” Calico Fudge,” said Petra Mart, multi-unit manager of internal
In the 1960s, Pappy’s became a straight-line concept with a brands. “We get a dry mix in and we use a kettle. Shannen
grill and ice cream bar. It stayed that way until 2004. “Mainly trains the students to make the fudge.”
because it was looking very tired, we turned it more into a The school has about 175 recipes to make different varieties
diner,” said Tom Coleman, director of retail dining. “Prior to of fudge. “The cookies and cream, chocolate, peanut butter
that, the seating area was heavily built out with wood furnish- and red velvet are all popular,” said Jordan. “The students
ing and high booths. It had a little bit of open seating to it as enjoy making it. They actually compete sometimes to see
well. It was very dark and had a very wood feel to it. That who gets to do the fudge.”
seating there supported the straight line concept.” Dining has been celebrating Pappy’s 90th anniversary all
In the 2004 renovation, Dining made sure that the history of year. “In late-February, early-March, we celebrated the 90th
the shop was respected. “We tried to center it around burgers anniversary by having Free Cake Fridays,” she said. “We also
and ice cream,” he said. “One of the programs we were trying had some Munchie Mondays that our brand ambassadors helped
to emulate was Johnny Rocket’s at the time. The renovation put together where we offered discount ice cream cones and
turned into very much open seating. We have counter seating. samples.”
We maintained the jukeboxes. We no longer have one box; The school also had a special rollback event. “We had
now we have 17 smaller boxes in total.” about 700 people attend,” said Jordan. “We partnered with
A recent front-of-the-house rebrand brought a tweak to our student union board, where we rolled back the prices and
Pappy’s look. “We rebranded Pappy’s to make it a little bit served an original 1927 burger, which is a smaller burger, fries
more colorful, more hip,” said Jordan. “We had lots of colorful and a drink, for $1.27. We also had free cake. We had root
murals and things. We worked with a branding company and beer floats, balloons and games. That was all based around
redid our customer service philosophy and how we approach Pappy’s history.”
our customer telling our story. When we reopened after our During the summer, the school used Pappy’s anniversary to
renovation in 2004, we had pretty much your traditional diner promote the school to prospective students. “We have an ice
colors, that didn’t resonate with today’s environment. Although cream cart that rolls around campus and sells ice cream; and
we maintained all of the booths, we actually took out all the with Pappy’s 90th anniversary, we have been handing out free
red and brought in a different hue altogether.” sweet treats to prospective students coming to visit,” he said.
Students love the food at Pappy’s. “During the school year, —OCH

18 | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017 ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY