Fifty Licks’ East Burnside Shop Was Destroyed in a Fire. Here’s What’s Next for the Ice Cream Brand. | Eater Portland
"At the East Burnside location of beloved Portland ice cream shop Fifty Licks, I learned the shop was severely damaged in a fire on May 10; Portland Fire & Rescue crews arrived just before 8 a.m., but owner Chad Draizin says the shop is a total loss and the department has not yet determined a cause. The fire originated in the basement of the over-100-year-old building and initially seemed contained — when Draizin arrived around 8:30 a.m. crews were using fans to blow smoke out and a firefighter told him the shop would likely be fine — which left him in tears of relief. After retrieving the ice cream truck to save product, he returned to find firefighters spraying foam and ripping open walls because the fire had spread through the building’s walls; crews can be seen unloading pints from the freezer, but I learned Draizin will not sell the salvaged product because it may be contaminated by smoke and other contaminants. He plans to open a brick-and-mortar elsewhere rather than move back into the Burnside building (which he expects won’t be possible for at least a year, if at all) and is actively seeking spaces to pop up or reopen; Fifty Licks, founded in 2009, only became reliably profitable after the Burnside flagship opened in 2017, and the business also makes ice cream at a production facility in the Central Eastside. My immediate takeaway is that Draizin’s priority is finding employment and hours for displaced staff as summer ramps up — some may shift to the Southeast Clinton and Northwest 21st Avenue locations — and the shop has launched a GoFundMe to cover two weeks of lost tipped income." - Janey Wong
