The McConnell’s scoop shop at 201 Mission St. in Santa Barbara is going through the process of rebranding itself as Mission Street Ice Cream and Yogurt.
It’s had the McConnell’s name and serves McConnell’s ice cream, but is not, in fact, an actual McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams establishment.
The independently-owned shop has operated under a license arrangement with Santa Barbara-based McConnell’s, which has its flagship establishment at 728 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara.
Confusion over the ownership of the Mission Street shop and its relation to the locally famous ice cream company has persisted for years, said Michael Palmer, one of McConnell’s owners who is handling statements for both establishments during the transition process.
McConnell’s, which was founded in 1949, licenses the right to sell its products and use its name to independent scoop shops.
McConnell’s left the scoop shop business in the 1970s, but new owners, including Palmer, opened up the State Street shop in 2013.
The Mission Street location has been an independently owned-and-operated shop under a license arrangement with McConnell’s since 1986.
In 2006, Bob and Jean Moss took over the Mission Street location and purchased the license. The Mosses, Palmer said, decided they would rather operate the business as a separate entity from McConnell’s.
Though McConnell’s ice cream will still be sold at the Mission store, McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams does not sell frozen yogurt or a variety of toppings available on Mission Street, Palmer said.
Beyond the State Street establishment, McConnell’s has a handful of other locations, all south of Santa Barbara.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.