Local Baskin Robbins reopens months after vehicle collision

Fans of Baskin Robbins ice cream in La Quinta will now be able to satisfy their sweet tooth again.
The location in the city reopened this Mother’s Day weekend after a car plowed through the store back in January.

Workers are busy preparing ingredients Sunday morning. It’s a sense of normalcy with the store’s grand reopening over the weekend.

“Everybody was very patient cause we’re learning our way around the new equipment and new point of sale system,” Cari Freeman, owner of the business, said.

The store had undergone a remodel with new floors and repaired fridges. A stark contrast from four months ago when a car plowed into the store, taking out walls and pinning a clerk working behind the counter. The clerk was taken to the hospital but fortunately found to be okay. Freeman said she’s grateful for the support from customers and the community.

“To be able to recover like this, it was a fun Mother’s Day gift,” she said.

As part of the rebuilding process, metal pylons were installed in front of the store to prevent any other car from plowing through the store again.

“You see them in Target and in front of other store and you don’t think why they’re there and so now it’s just kind of a little safety barrier,” Freeman said.

One customer says she’s glad to see the store reopen and believed the store’s new interior would help draw more visitors.

“I really hope they do good now,” Linda Mauldin of Indio, said. “I mean they’ve always done good, but it’s going to be more business now I think.”

Business the store is looking to have returned.

“Everything in here is brand new and we still have our cake decorator so we’re just really excited to get back into it,” Freeman said.