Written by Andrew Reneau//Graphic by Ben Evans
Soda Jerk completed renovations to their store in downtown Searcy across the street from Burrito Day, days before their weekend Mardi Gras celebration on March 3.
Lisa Douglas owns Soda Jerk and the nextdoor thrift store Vintage Vibes. She moved the ice cream bar closer to the door and shunted some tables to the side of her building. She is also expanding her menu with more sodas, coffees, and vegan ice cream and cones.
“We’re going to expand our menu into fun milkshakes,” Douglas said. “We’re going a little bit more nostalgic with sodas and floats. All that’s coming.”
Not everything went perfectly during renovations. Douglas recounted when a ghost named Lilly disturbed her store and moved her lunch.
“My bag was here one day, and my lunch was behind it, and my lunch went to the floor,” Douglas said. “Not my bag, just my lunch that was behind the bag.”
For a social club who needs a fun get-together, it would be a good idea to follow in the steps of Phi Kappa Delta, who held their Galentine’s Day event last weekend at Soda Jerk. Outside the club sphere, the store has been a place for get-togethers and traditions. Sophomore Allie Laverty said she remembers meeting her friend to get snacks after class.
“In freshman year, I quickly became friends with one of my good friends Sara Crooks, and we started a tradition of going [to Soda Jerk] every Tuesday together,” Laverty said. “We would opt for their cold blue floats or acai bowls every Tuesday, and so it was just a fun little place for community.”
‘Soda Jerk’ is a twist on the term ‘soda clerk,’ the job title of the drugstore assistants who operated soda machinery with a jerking motion. But despite the signs and colored drawings of coffee and ice cream on the store’s windows and sign, the name ‘Soda Jerk’ has spawned confusion for some students, leaving sophomore Kerra Felzien wondering what the store sells.
“I think the name is kind of confusing,” Felzien said. “Maybe next time they should change the name, because they don’t sell soda—they’re not jerks!”
Soda Jerk will host an event celebrating Mardi Gras this weekend. Music artist Silas Carpenter is scheduled to perform, and vendors will set up stands in front of the shop.
