OAKLAND, Calif. – A beloved and time-honored Oakland ice cream shop is responding to reports that the family favorite creamery is shutting its doors.
Rumors have been circulating in recent days that Fentons Creamery on Piedmont Avenue was closing after 130 years, due to an unsustainable climate of high crime in the city.
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In an interview on Wednesday, Fentons spokesman Josh Webb shot down the rumors, saying they were unequivocally untrue.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he said.
Webb did say that in recent days, there have been multiple inquiries about the longtime creamery’s future which prompted him to try and track down where these reports were coming from.
He said it appeared they stemmed from statements made about a year ago, when the company was considering a temporary closure.
“Oakland was going through some tough times. We were seeing a lot of crime, and we didn’t feel like we were getting the attention we needed from the city leadership,” the spokesman said. “We had been reaching out and trying to get the city council, city leaders to do anything. Our concerns were falling on deaf ears,” he added.
Webb explained that thieves were rolling through, breaking into customers’ vehicles, threatening patrons, and shaking everyone’s feeling of safety.
“It was just a daily issue. There was always something happening. We were spending a ton of money on outside security,” Webb said, adding, “Ultimately, customers’ safety and our employee safety is number one.”
But he said that in about the last six months, the conditions have drastically changed, and the crime problem in the area seemed to be largely resolved.
Webb said he doesn’t know specifically what led to the improvement, but that the Fentons community has experienced a restored sense of safety.
At least one report linked a possible Fentons closure to the recall efforts of both Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
As of Wednesday morning, early returns showed that voters favored both recalls with 65% of the vote.
Thao has pointed to her implementation of the “Ceasefire” anti-violence program for helping to improve public safety and lower homicide numbers.
Price has held firm to her position of reforming the criminal justice system. Amid climbing crime rates, she has faced intense criticism for her stance on not automatically charging suspects with special circumstances or the most severe gun enhancements.
When asked about Fentons’ position on the recalls, Webb declined to state where the business stood.
“Ice cream is not political, we’re not here to take sides,” the creamery said. “All I’ll say is that politicians come and go, and the people of Oakland, the community, is what remains. We’ve served this community for a very long time, and we will be here to continue to serve this community in the future.”
