A couple from nearby Joplin, Missouri, last week bought the Supertam on 66 ice-cream shop in Carterville from founder and longtime owner Larry Tamminen.
Chris Briley, an attorney for Walmart, and his wife Andrea Parsons-Briley, a special-education teacher in Carterville, closed on the deal Friday just a few months after Tamminen and his wife decided to put the business up for sale because of his health problems.
Briley said they anticipate reopening Supertam on 66 sometime next week, once they get the shipment of ice cream they need.
Briley said nothing will change, including the name, and keeping the shop’s extensive collection of Superman memorabilia was a condition of the sale.
The business also announced the change in hands Saturday:
Briley credited his wife with the idea of acquiring the shop. She had taken her students to Supertam on 66 as part of field trips. After the shop closed and was put up for sale, she met with Barbara Tamminen to discuss purchasing it.
“Larry had several offers for just the memorabilia and Larry said, ‘Nope; this is my baby, and it’s a package deal,'” Briley said in a phone interview this week. “In talking to Larry and Barbara, we don’t want to change the name, we don’t want to change anything about it. We just want to carry on his legacy.”
Briley said the shop also is keeping the Superman ice cream, which comes in bright colors of blue, red and yellow. They also acquired Larry’s recipe for his Kryptonite Delight drink.
Briley acknowledged Larry’s effervescent personality also was a selling point.
“If you’ve ever met Larry, you know he’s an infectious person,” he said. “His enthusiasm, his talking about the tourists, it got me excited about it.”
“Larry had one request — he wanted Zanzibar ice cream,” which Briley explained is a rich, chocolate-flavored ice cream. “It’s his favorite ice cream. He said he’d come to see us every day.”
Briley said they plan to have Supertam on 66 open year-round. They also plan to use the adjoining train car and pavilion, which also was included in the sale, for special events such as birthday parties and family reunions.
Briley also wrote about the Tamminens on Facebook Messenger shortly after the deal closed: “They were very emotional yet very excited for us. I think Larry was very relieved to know that we want to carry on his legacy. … We are definitely wanting to build on what he started.”
UPDATE 9/19/2021: KOAM-TV covered the grand reopening Saturday of Supertam on 66.
(Image of Supertam on 66 via Facebook)