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The return of Jeni’s: Company announces it is ready to reopen its scoop shops

Decatur

The return of Jeni’s: Company announces it is ready to reopen its scoop shops

The store front of Jeni's in the Decatur Square. Photo by Dan Whisenhunt
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The store front of Jeni's in the Decatur Square. Photo by Dan Whisenhunt

The store front of Jeni’s in the Decatur Square. Photo by Dan Whisenhunt

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams says it’s ready to do business again after dealing with another outbreak of Listeria in its kitchens.

The company announced on June 19 that all of its stores around the country will reopen on June 20 at 5 pm. Jeni’s closed its Atlanta area shops, including the recently-opened shop in Decatur, on June 12, for the second time this year after discovering it had not completely rid its kitchens of the deadly bacteria.

“The menu will be limited at first, featuring a mix of our ice creams, frozen yogurts, and sorbet—all made for us by our partners at Smith Dairy—along with sundaes, floats, and sauces,” Jeni Britton Bauer wrote on Jenis.com. “We’ll be adding more flavors to the menu in the coming weeks.”

She said the 110-year-old dairy has been a longtime partner of the company and “pulled out all the stops” to help get the company churning again.

“We are very excited to have our shops team back at work,” Bauer said. “We are excited about ginger ale + Lemon Frozen Yogurt floats. We are excited about the smell of waffle cones baking and to feel the hustle and bustle of the shops. As for our own production kitchen, we continue our all-out effort to get it back up and running.”

Prior to closing on June 12, the company had reopened its scoop shops on May 22 after clearing up an earlier Listeria outbreak that kept the shops closed for nearly one month.

Jeni’s estimates its initial recalls and cleanup due to the Listeria outbreak cost the company $2.5 million. In the interim, Jeni’s made some provisions to provide partial pay to its employees who were idle while the stores were closed.

The company provided lengthy press releases throughout the ordeal, including a release documenting where the company found the source of the deadly bacteria.

Listeria can cause infections in children and adults. It’s also a threat to people with weak immune systems. It has been known to cause stillbirths and miscarriages. A Listeria-outbreak in Blue Bell Ice Cream products killed three people, according to the CDC.