Chocolate Moose might close permanently

Though Chocolate Moose only closed for the season on Monday, it might have been its last day ever.

The ice cream shop, family-owned for more than 24 years, has faced slow sales and increasing costs this year, in addition to debt. Owner Tim May said they are looking for a new owner to buy the store, or it might be forced to close permanently.

“There is a point where just being open costs you money,” he said of the seasonal business, which is open February through November. “This year the sales were kind of just level.”

Though a line stretched across the parking lot on the shop’s final day last Monday, May said it’s the most business he’s had in weeks. He attributed the increase in business to news of the stand’s possible close.

“All these people,” he said, pointing outside to the long line. “Where the hell were all these people the last two weeks?”

Born and raised in Bloomington, the 49-year-old worked in the shop since he was 12, and took it over in 1983 from his father. His changed the name from The Penguin to The Chocolate Moose. The owner has been serving Spanish burgers and ice cream cones with candy eyes for 12 hours a day ever since.

May is married and has three children, all with no health insurance. He said he is looking for a more stable job, one where he isn’t on his feet all the time, and one where he can get benefits. He added that he has no retirement funds. The idea of closing the small shop has been on his mind for the past few years, he said.

“I’ve got to make sure I’m still viable,” he said of looking for a new job. “It’s a good time to think about moving on.”

But May said a new career for him isn’t the sole reason for the store’s close. At best, more money would have kept him open another year, he said. That way, he could “ease out on a good note, instead of falling off.”

Still, May is hopeful for a new owner with some money to keep the place going.

”I’d hate to see it all fold under,” he said of the shop that has become a Bloomington icon. “You know a lot of customers’ items but you don’t know their names.”