How do you spot a longtime Minneapolis resident? They can say, “I ate a La La Palooza.” From 1938 to 1985, Bridgeman’s Ice Cream, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, stood at the corner of Hennepin Avenue and 25th ½ Street — where Dunn Brothers is today.
Bridgeman’s Ice Cream Shoppes traces its roots to 1883, when Henry Bridgeman began peddling fresh milk door to door from a goat cart in Duluth. He grew the business into the largest dairy operation in the Midwest. His two sons had their own vision. In 1933, Roy and Chester Bridgeman started making ice cream in Duluth, aiming to replace the corner drugstore soda fountain model. Instead, they sought to “transform the old-fashioned ice cream parlor into an ice cream palace, where tempting dairy products would be dispensed in modern, sparkling-clean surroundings.”
They opened three ice cream parlors near Duluth in 1936 and expanded to other cities, including Minneapolis, in 1938.
Growth and Challenges
Despite its popularity, Bridgeman’s faced many challenges as it grew. Roy Bridgeman died in 1940. In 1951, one of their Minneapolis stores suffered a large fire. In 1953, Chester Bridgeman, dealing with a serious illness, decided to sell the company to Land O’Lakes Creameries Inc.
When Land O’Lakes acquired the chain in 1952, they added an apostrophe (changing “Bridgeman” to “Bridgeman’s”) and expanded the menu to include food. In 1959, they opened the first freestanding soda grill at 37th Street and Lake Street in Minneapolis. The company continued to grow, eventually operating 54 locations.
The La La Palooza Challenge
The Bridgeman family remained involved and never abandoned its original ice cream vision. In 1956, Bill Bridgeman and two managers, Vern Willert and Del Klock, invented the La La Palooza.
“It had eight scoops of ice cream and double servings of butterscotch, pineapple and strawberry toppings. It was topped with nuts, cherries, banana slices and whipped cream. Customers who finished one earned a button that read: ‘I ate a La La Palooza.’”
A Beloved Workplace
Sue Westerman, a Lowry Hill resident, worked at Bridgeman’s in 1979 as a junior at West High School. She recalls the fun of working dinner shifts with the mostly young staff, serving families, couples, and groups of friends who loved the Bridgeman’s experience. The Hot Fudge Banana Sundae and Banana Split were the most popular orders, though many customers were intrigued by the La La Palooza — few, however, were brave enough to attempt it.
One perk of working there was a free ice cream at the end of each shift. “I got mine in a cup and took it home,” Westerman said. She kept doing this until her freezer had about 40 cups of ice cream.
“It was just too yummy to pass on!”
The Decline of Bridgeman’s Restaurants
By the early 1980s, Bridgeman’s faced financial difficulties and began closing unprofitable locations and remodeling others. In 1983, Land O’Lakes sold 26 corporate locations and 18 franchises to Wayne Thede, the chain’s largest franchisee at the time. However, Thede struggled financially and filed for bankruptcy. City Realty acquired the company to pull it out of bankruptcy.
The last Bridgeman’s location in Minneapolis — on Hiawatha Avenue — closed around 2015. The restaurant operations were sold to Embers, while the ice cream manufacturing business was sold to Steve Lampi. Bridgeman’s ice cream, however, remained available in grocery stores and restaurants.
A Revival of an Icon
In 2015, Meggan Kerkenbush, Brian Appeldoorn and Crystal Bakker purchased the company, working to revive the iconic Minnesota brand.
“Bridgeman’s is proud to still be a family-run business! We are passionate about creating sweet memories for decades to come,” they state.
In 2020, they opened an old-fashioned ice cream parlor in Woodbury at 2110 Eagle Creek Lane, bringing back the classic parlor experience, complete with sundaes served in tulip glasses.
Perhaps we can entice Bridgeman’s to return to its original neighborhood. After all, one of our empty Hennepin storefronts is waiting..
