In June 1972, then-27-year-old Rod Lapin opened a small frozen-treat store called Ye Ole Fashioned Ice Cream Shop in Charleston's South Windermere Shopping Center.
As the steamy summer succumbed to fall's cooler temperatures, he noticed ice cream wasn't as popular, so he added hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, soups and other items to the menu. The name of the business grew as well to reflect the expanded menu.
Fifty years later, Lapin's concept has evolved into seven Ye Ole Fashioned Ice Cream and Sandwich Cafés across the Lowcountry. Another is on the way next year in the developing Point Hope community off Clements Ferry Road.
On Oct. 7, the company will celebrate its golden anniversary with a promotion on single-serve ice cream scoops and hot dogs for 99 cents each.
At the newest location on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard in the Publix-anchored Ashley Landing Shopping Center in West Ashley, co-owner Rolando Ravelo plans to mark the occasion with a 1970s-themed event.
For Lapin, the company's growth was never envisioned as he welcomed his first customers five decades ago, when Richard Nixon was campaigning for a second term as president and before the Arab oil embargo sent the U.S. economy into a protracted recession in 1973.
For the next 15 years, Lapin made sandwiches and scooped up ice cream in the 1,200-square-foot diner that seated about two dozen or so people. Located in the center of a strip of stores, there was no drive-thru.
In 1987, Lapin sold the original shop to an employee and opened the restaurant that still stands on Savannah Highway at Folly Road.
Rolando Ravelo, co-owner of Charleston's newest Ye Ole Fashioned restaurant on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard in West Ashley, plans a 1970s-themed event on Oct. 7 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. Single ice cream scoops and hot dogs will be available for 99 cents at the shop and several others in the Lowcountry all day. Warren L. Wise/Staff
The South Windermere restaurant continued for another five years before being sold to another dining venture for a deli concept. It later closed.
With business bustling at the new Savannah Highway location, Lapin was content with things as they were.
"It was never a plan to do multiple locations," he said. "It was just day by day. There was no master plan."
Plans changed as his children got older and family members wanted to get into the business.
By 1997, various family members had opened five more locations in North Charleston, Summerville Mount Pleasant and Goose Creek. Two of the businesses have since been sold to outside buyers under what the chain's founder described as “a legal business agreement” that differs from a franchise arrangement.
Earlier this year, Victor Davydov, who purchased the Savannah Highway and Mount Pleasant stores, and Rolando Ravelo launched No. 7 on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard in West Ashley’s Ashley Landing Shopping Center.
In recent years, Lapin, now 77, said he has taken a breather from the day-to-day operations.
With most of the restaurants still in the hands of family members, he serves as consultant for the two shops in West Ashley. His daughter Becki Cole and husband Bryan act in similar capacities for the Mount Pleasant location they once owned.
"We don't like to say we retired," Lapin said. "We were just ready to step away and serve as consultants."
Lapin also never considered running the restaurant as work.
"I tell people all the time I never had a job," he said. "It was my niche. I just enjoyed it and meeting the customers."
Looking back, Lapin beams when he sees what has grown out of the small diner he started in 1972.
"When I see cars lined up around the restaurant, it just amazes me of the success and love Charleston has for Ye Ole Fashioned," he said.
As for the celebration, all of the restaurants will honor the 99-cent promotion on Friday, but Lapin said son Todd would prefer a less-busy day during the first part of the week to mark the occasion for his two Summerville restaurants. Separate celebrations on different days have not been determined for those sites.
