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PLAINS TWP. — Janine and Robert Zaremski had two young children and little experience running a business when they decided to buy an ice cream shop in 1985.
Janine was a mother and a delivery nurse at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center. Robert had a degree in commercial arts.
But as the long lines at Curly Creme show, the family operates one of the most popular ice cream shops in the Wyoming Valley.
For the past 30 years, except for one summer when the shop did not open due to Robert’s death, area residents have flocked to the business.
The walk-up ice cream shop on South River Street seems simple enough. It opens shortly before Memorial Day, closes in mid-September and makes hundreds of people smile in the time in between.
When they purchased the stand, Janine Zaremski’s ice cream business experience consisted of her first job at Hasty Tasty, a barbecue, hot dog eatery and ice cream shop. Hasty Tasty was located where the Plains Township on-ramp for the North Branch of the Cross Valley Expressway is now.
Janine remembers Robert thought it would be “fun” to operate an ice cream shop.
But making the transition from ice cream lovers to business owners consisted of a learning curve the couple did not expect.
“The mindset is so different when you become a business owner,” she said.
Curly Creme was established for about four years before the Zaremskis bought it, Janine said.
The former owners stayed and coached the couple through the first summer. As they learned the tricks of the trade, the couple nurtured the business and their daughters, Lauren and Alicia, who were 3 and 1 at the time.
“We would come down here with blankets and toys (for the girls),” she said.
Alicia, now 30, recalls napping under the front counter.
“I also remember standing on a step stool, that we still have, and doing the register,” she said. “I was about 5 … maybe.”
As the years passed, Janine Zaremski began to refer to Curly Creme as her “summer home along the river.”
Alicia and her husband, Jody Humphrey, are now learning the business from Alicia’s mother.
“You are learning,” Zaremski said to her daughter. “Your father would be proud.”
Lauren and Alicia are not the only ones who grew up alongside the family business. Lauren’s daughter, Bianca Murphy, is following in her mother’s footsteps and helps out around the shop throughout the summer months.
Dark Summer
Every spring when the Zaremski’s opened Curly Creme, lines of customers announce the start of the summer season.
Well proportioned soft ice cream cones, weekly featured flavors, sundaes and other frozen treats at reasonable prices set the ice cream shop apart.
“Summer is here when Curly Creme is open,” Zaremski said many customers told her throughout the years.
But one summer, the lines never formed. The windows remained dark.
On June 2, 2010, Robert lost his battle with pancreatic cancer.
Curly Creme closed.
The following year, Zaremski, with the support of her daughters, re-opened Curly Creme.
The women had to figure out how to prepare the equipment for the pending season.
“He used to take care of all the equipment,” Zaremski said.
During their process, they found forgotten notes from their dad. Notes taped on equipment on how to operate it or simple reminders such as “close door” were sprinkled throughout the facility in his handwriting. The family refused to change them, tying Robert’s memory to the business.
“When something happens, if something breaks, I would say, ‘Bob, please tell me what to do,’ and a solution comes,” Zaremski said.
“Dad made everyone laugh,” Humphrey said. “We always had a good time. It was not like work.”
A photo collage of Lauren, Robert, Alicia and Janine hangs near the door as a testament to the family’s legacy.
Despite missing a summer, business resumed the following year without missing a beat.
Frequent visitors Theresa and David Vetack of Wilkes-Barre said that the ice cream is fantastic and that you always get a lot for your money.
Lisa Makarewicz of Luzerne said she also comes several times during the summer season.
“It is time to hang out with the kids, but secretly I want to come to,” Makarewicz said.
With so many frozen treats to choose from, Makarewicz said she always orders “chocolate ice cream with half chocolate sprinkles and half rainbow, turned upside down in a cup.”