A new online ordering system is helping the ’55 Exchange, a student-run business on Clemson University’s campus where Clemson Ice Cream and other dairy products are sold, recoup losses incurred from being shut down because of COVID-19.
 
Just as many other small businesses, the ’55 Exchange has taken a big financial hit from forced closure due to COVID-19. During the Spring semester, students who run ’55 Exchange implemented an online ordering system to help recoup some of their loss and get ice cream into the hands of those who miss it during these trying times.
 
“We operate just like any other small business, including paying rent to the university, as well as paying our student and professional staff,” said Amy Grace Funcik, a Clemson Food, Nutrition and Packaging Sciences student from the Isle of Palms. “We entered the shutdown with a strong balance sheet, but with no means to generate sales, our financial strength has been severely impacted, placing the ’55 Exchange business future in jeopardy. So, we adapted and are now working to promote the launch of our ice cream shipping program.”
 
For one Clemson alumnus, Clemson Ice Cream holds sweet memories. Kathleen “Kat” Miller Vinson (’81) lives nearly 2,000 miles away in New Mexico and can now have her favorite Clemson Ice Cream – Double Cookies and Cream – delivered right to her door.
 
“When I was around 5 years old, I was doing a little dance performance at the Clemson House,” Vinson said. “After the performance, my dance teacher took me to get Clemson Ice Cream. I ordered chocolate and she ordered lime sherbet. She let me taste her lime sherbet and I just about ate all of it! A couple of years later, my parents started taking my sisters and me to get ice cream on Sunday afternoons. Such great memories!”
 
Orders can be placed online at website www.clemson.edu/icecream. On the webpage, click on the order button just under the banner that goes to the CUMarketplace ordering system.
 
In addition to online ordering, hand packed pints of Clemson Ice Cream also are available from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. on Thursdays at the Clemson Farmers Market in Patrick Square. Online purchases are encouraged to help maintain social distancing, but cash also will be accepted. Online purchases for pickup at the Clemson Farmer’s Market can be made at www.clemson.edu/icecream. Available flavors are posted on the ’55 Exchange’s Facebook and Instagram pages each Thursday morning – https://www.facebook.com/55exchangeand https://www.instagram.com/clemsonicecream.