Every summer weekend, North Star Sports at 100 Main Street in downtown Burlington rents bikes to dozens of tourists. Upon their return, shop owner Pat Miller said, many ask where to buy the classic hot-weather Vermont treat: a creemee.
“Head back to the waterfront,” Miller, 76, and her staff members always used to advise. “But we were just down there,” deflated bikers often replied, by her account.
Now, North Star Sports has installed a creemee machine to meet the needs of those tired, hungry tourists. The shop serves vanilla creemees made with Hood mix in a cone or Holstein-splotched cup, with optional real maple sprinkles from Green Mountain Goodness in Franklin. Miller said she opted to offer the rich 10 percent butterfat dairy base, “of course.”
The frosty treats start at $3, and Miller expects the machine to operate Thursday through Sunday afternoons during North Star’s regular hours. Look for the “creemees & bike rentals” sign. She’s also doing a brisk business in jars of maple sprinkles and other maple products.
Miller started her business in 1985, selling and renting sports equipment from her basement. She moved to 65 Main Street in 1989 and to the current location a year later. In addition to bicycles, North Star sells and rents snowshoes, cross-country skis and skates; it was among the first local sellers of electric bikes, Miller said.
She’d been thinking about adding creemees for a few years. “You have to be changing all the time, even at my age,” said Miller, who acknowledged that operating the machine has involved a learning curve. “We’re still a bike shop,” she said. “We’re not really creemee experts yet.”
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
