Cold Stone and other businesses close, Woodstock’s Pizza to relocate

Over the past few months, downtown Chico has seen multiple businesses close their doors permanently.

The old Cold Stone creamery now stands as another abandoned business in downtown Chico. Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab, a chain with locations in San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande, will replace the business with a grand opening set for September.

Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab sign — The new ice cream chain Doc Burnstiens Ice Cream Lab will be opening in September, this sign is located on the same side as OM Foods. Photo credit: Hana Beaty

“It kind of looked like it happened overnight,” Cassidy Wear, a cook for OM Foods, said. “I just came to work and everything was papered up, so I didn’t even see signs of closing.”

OM Foods is located next door to Cold Stone. Wear does not believe Cold Stone closing will affect OM Foods since the two shops focus on different foods.

“It’s kind of sad because there are not too many ice cream places to get ice cream from downtown,” Jason Stephens, a bartender at Burgers and Brew, said. “It’s just that and Jon and Bon’s basically, and Cold Stone is some of the best ice cream in town.”

Bartender Jason Stephens — Stephens doesn't think that Coldstone would have affected Burgers and Brew. Photo credit: Hana Beaty

Cold Stone could not be reached for comment.

Although Woodstock’s Pizza is not closing, it has been working to relocate to 240 Main Street in downtown Chico, where Crepeville used to be. Woodstock’s Pizza continues to serve and deliver pizza from outside of their old location, following the roof drainage system getting overloaded and causing some drop ceilings to fall according to Alek Irvin, Woodstock’s Pizza Marketing Representative.

Sitting Outside — People sat outside Woodstocks Pizza to eat and socialize. Woodstocks currently has steel chairs and plastic tables set up outside while a person works at the front desk. Photo credit: Hana Beaty

The new Woodstock’s location will feature elements from the old location with a modern look.

“The space will have several areas for large parties and reservations, and we’re excited to bring back our trivia and live music nights, as well as introduce a few new events for guests to enjoy,” Irvin said.

We reached out to two Woodstock’s Pizza employees but they claimed they were not allowed to comment.

“I think it might actually put Mainstreet Pizza down on their sales,” Stephens said. “I’m actually super stoked that it’s not Crepeville anymore, that’s actually our sister store. Burgers and Brews own Crepeville.”

Stephen’s doesn’t think that Woodstock’s changing locations will affect Burgers and Brew much since they are different types of restaurants.

“I think Woodstock’s moving out to this area is freaking awesome,” Miyagi Pocock, the assistant manager at Burgers and Brew, said. “I know it’s only a block and a half move but I think them just being part of the heart of downtown instead of the outskirts is really going to help them out a lot.”

Miyagi Pockock discusses his thoughts on what happened to Crepeville. Photo credit: Hana Beaty

Pocock feels that he is involved in the downtown area but didn’t know that Cold Stone was closing. He hopes that these new changes will encourage people to come to downtown more often and felt it was unfortunate that Crepeville had to close.

“It just wasn’t a good fit, you know they have other successful Crepeville’s around the Sacramento and Davis area that are thriving but for some reason it didn’t really land in Chico the way they thought it was going to,” Pocock said.

Zucchini and Vine is also expected to close it doors after 42 years of business following the store owner Nancy Lindhal’s retirement, according to the Chico Enterprise-Record.

Julian Mendoza can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @JulianMTheOrion.