Stewart's holiday treat no longer free

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Patrons of Stewart’s looking for a free scoop on St. Patrick’s Day this year will have to pay 50 cents for the treat on Tuesday.

The Saratoga Springs-based corporation will charge the nominal fee at all of its 326 shops for the first time, said spokesman Tom Mailey.

“It is a service issue. Last year, we did over 200,000 cones in 325 shops. That disrupted service at the shops so that people didn’t or couldn’t come in,” Mailey said. Stewart’s had 325 shops in 2008; it added one more store in the past year.

The number of cones distributed last year for free averaged 637 per shop, which is more than each shop ever sells in a day, Mailey said.

“The lines get so long that people can’t come in a shop. We give a lot and we look forward to these days, and we hope to make it possible for people to enjoy a cone,” he said.

The price of 50 cents per scoop is 70 percent off the cost of a regular cone, which sells for $1.75.

“We tried to come up with something that isn’t priced out of anyone’s range,” Mailey said.

St. Patrick’s Day is the busiest time of the year for Stewart’s and its free ice cream giveaway, Mailey said. Stewart’s gives out free ice cream on Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and Halloween as well but far less of it, he said. In 2008, Stewart’s gave out 24,000 cones on Mother’s Day and 18,734 cones on Father’s Day. Mailey did not provide a total for Halloween.

Stewart’s may begin charging for ice cream on these occasions as well, Mailey said.

“Going forward, we will see what we do after St. Patrick’s Day,” he said.

Stewart’s free ice cream program is the most extensive in the Capital Region.

Ben & Jerry’s gives out free ice cream cones once a year, usually around Earth Day in April, said Mike Sperduto, manager of the Lark Street Ben & Jerry’s location in Albany.

“There is a history behind it. Ben & Jerry’s did their first free cone day in 1979, to celebrate that they survived their inception,” Sperduto said.

“Since then, it has evolved. It is what Ben & Jerry’s is all about, community service and helping out as best we can,” Sperduto said.