By Kelsi Harshman
Frostie. Nehi. Leninade. Sprecher’s. Cheerwine. It’s hard to believe the North Market Pop Shop can fit all these different kinds of sodas, and more, within its tight walls. Along with its main attraction, ice cream, hot dogs, local honey, chips and candy fill in the gaps of the store, making it the one-stop shop for everything you might want or need on a warm summer day.
Everyone at the Pop Shop has their favorite treat, whether it’s the traditional chocolate ice cream cone, like employee Amanda Clements, or a particular soda.
“The Cock ‘n Bull Ginger Beer is my favorite,” Trevor Tabbachiam, Pop Shop employee, said as he went directly to the shelf it was sitting on and held it up. “I get it all the time.” Tabbachiam has been working at the Pop Shop for over a year and a half, so he’s had time to really find out what his favorite is.
“I love the chili dogs here,” Jennifer France, an employee and friend of the owner, said. “The meat is homemade, and it reminds me of the chili dogs my parents make at their own shop back home.”
Originally, Michelle Shafer, the owner of the Pop Shop, wanted to get into downtown Frederick and use her own secret doughnut recipe to start a shop. However, when she found out the Pop Shop was for sale, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“Downtown Frederick is becoming a destination,” she says. The history of Frederick combined with other equally unique shops, draws in some decent foot traffic and even draws in a few regulars from the area. “But people own shops for the love of it. No one is becoming a millionaire.”
Not only does Frederick have history, but the Pop Shop has a special kind of history to many of the people around it.
“I moved to Frederick in March,” France explains, “I’m a chalkboard artist. I saw the chalkboard outside the shop and offered to help.” France did such amazing work on the outside board that Shafer hired her to do the menu boards she had just recently bought inside.
Along with the chalkboards, Shafer made many changes when she first bought the Pop Shop. There were 70 different types of sodas being sold. She boosted that to 150. There weren’t any hot dogs, either, but she saw to that quickly, and it ended up becoming a popular treat that brings in a lot of foot traffic. She also bought the sign above the door, the counters that can be pulled out from the walls, and the refrigerators that keep the more popular brands of soda cold to fight summer thirst.
The Pop Shop was a turnkey shop, meaning the key was always changing hands. Before Shafer bought the shop, it was run by the same owner for 2.5 years. Shafer likes that the Pop Shop already had a strong foundation to build on when she made her additions, and hopes to stick with it for quite some time.
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