Q&A With Walrus Ice Cream In Old Town
If you live in Fort Collins, you have undoubtedly heard about Walrus Ice Cream. Located in the heart of Old Town, this local ice cream parlor has been putting frozen smiles across the faces of kids, families, tourists, students, and dogs for decades. I had the pleasure of asking the current owner, Lisa Paugh, a few questions about her experience working within the Old Town community.
Q: According to the Walrus Ice Cream website, it looks like the shop has been in business since 1987 and you were originally from Kansas City, Missouri. What brought you to open shop in Fort Collins?
A: “We moved here in 1996 and bought the existing Walrus Ice Cream store September 1st of 1999. Steve Orner is the original owner and the original address [of the ice cream shop] is 109 S College Ave. It was located above, what was Nico’s, and is now Sonny Lubick Steakhouse. He [Steve]opened up Walrus December 4th 1987 and has been in for business 31 years. It was moved to its current location in 1997.”
Q: Was there a prominent Old Town culture in the late 90s/early 00s? If not when did you start to see Old Town and Fort Collins grow?
A: “My ex husband and I purchased the current building in 2005 and Old Town started to really take off after the recession of 2008 but it has always been a wonderful place to gather.”
Q: Other than the ghost story featured on your website, is there any other Old Town stories you’d like to share?
A: “There are many stories of our encounters with our ghost, Charlie, but over all he is a happy spirit and his energy increases as we get busy. He seems to love crowds and Fort Collins!”
Q: Is Old Town overall a good place to work or live? And are you guys happy with the choice to own a store front here in town?
A: “I not only love Old Town, I love Fort Collins, my community and my staff. I wonder every day how did I got so lucky to be surrounded by amazing youth, whip cream and cherries!”
Q: Anything else you feel like you would like to share that people might not already know about your store?
A: “Everything is made on location. Our ice cream is an all natural base and we offer 29 everchanging flavors along with Gluten free cones and vegan ice cream. Dogs eat free (vanilla) but we make the people pay.
We give back every opportunity we can. I believe we need to support the community that supports us. Since everything is made here, we have the freedom of creativity. We partner with the breweries, Coopersmith’s and Butterfly Cafe, and we wholesale to all local Jax locations, the Forks in Livermore, Coopersmith’s, Tap and Handle, Waffle Lab, Sonny Lubicks, Beau Jo’s, The Rio, Jay’s Bistro, The Cart (located inside Sprout’s on Drake) Ptarmigan, The Matador, DP Dough and the Silver Grill.”
