In today’s post I want to devote some time to a dying breed—the Twistee Treat ice cream outlet. There aren’t many left, and since corporate control has been shifted to a Canadian owner, there probably won’t be any new stores under the Twistee Treat banner. Although Twistee Treats came much later, they are still lumped into that category of architecture popular in the 1950s when entrepreneurs looked for enterprising ways to feed, fuel and entertain a nation on the move. Often they choose to attract attention to their businesses by making the architecture resemble the product. That’s the case with Twistee Treat stores.
Twistee Treat began in 1983 as a franchised chain of ice cream outlets in Fort Myers, Florida. Robert Skiller designed the stores and had about two dozen locations throughout Florida. Their claim to fame is a building that looks like a soft-serve ice cream cone. The front of the base is rounded to look like a cone. This is topped with swirls of fiberglass “ice cream” and a cherry at the very top, about 30 feet in the air. They make quite a sight. Today, the remaining Tastee Treats are a treasured bit of nostalgic roadside architecture so popular decades ago.
The original company behind Twistee Treats filed for bankruptcy in 1990. A new company formed later, and some of the locations tried adding gourmet coffee and a broader menu, including burgers. Eventually Twistee Treat sold the right to franchise the stores to a Canadian firm which operates under the Twirlees Ice Cream™ name.
Unfortunately, there is no official list of Tastee Treats. I’ll provide some Midwest locations, but you’ll need to double check to see that they’re still there and open for business. If I’ve piqued your curiosity and you just want to get an idea of what the stores look like, there are places online where you can get a peek. There’s a good selection of photos here. Also see this page on Flickr.
As far as Midwest locations, here you go.
Illinois
Mattoon
Michigan
Perry
Hemlock
Ohio
Clyde
West Chester
Massillon
Canton
Missouri
St. Joseph
Kansas City
South Dakota
Aberdeen
If you should happen to be interested to buying a Tastee Treat store, click here. There are lots of locations in several different states listed, complete with phone numbers and email addresses of the contact persons.
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