Now offering a new Lactose-Free Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream!
Available at select locations.

History

History

At Bop’s Frozen Custard, we’ve always been passionate about two things: serving you the highest quality product and being a part of lifelong memories with your family and friends.

This passion was forged over 20 years ago when our founder, Jimmy Eckford, was living in Tulsa, OK. At the time, “Mr. Jimmy” would drive 30 minutes each way to an ice cream shop where he believed the best ice cream in the world was being served.

What made this ice cream so much better than anything he'd ever had before? After doing research on this newfound love, he discovered that what he was eating was actually known as “old fashioned ice cream,” or frozen custard! Armed with this new information, a passion for this “frozen custard”, and decades of dairy farm and dairy equipment business knowledge, Jimmy opened his first store in Jackson, MS after moving from Tulsa. In 2004, after several years of success in Jackson, Bop’s Frozen Custard granted its first franchise.

Sometime in the early 2000s, Rebecca Fayard was a young college student in the Jackson metro area and was introduced to Bop’s by a dear friend who was from the area. Needless to say, Bop’s became a staple for a group of college girls attending Mississippi College in nearby Clinton. “We would pile up in a car and make the thirty-minute drive to the Jackson, MS store when we all needed a study break”, said Rebecca.

Not long after graduating from Mississippi College, Rebecca realized Bop’s was franchising locations. Rebecca had introduced Bop’s to her now husband Bruce Lacey, and they both agreed that the Bop’s concept would be well-received in their hometown of D’Iberville, Mississippi. That conversation put the wheels in motion and Bruce and Rebecca Lacey opened Bop’s of D’Iberville in 2008.

They take pride in continuing to serve frozen custard to generations of families on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. “We have now seen the cycle of kids that grew up with Bop’s bringing their children into the shop for their first ice cream,” said Bruce.

In 2019, Bruce and Rebecca Lacey purchased the franchise system of Bop’s from the Eckford family. They are proud to continue the legacy the Eckford family created over 20 years ago.

While we always will reflect on our decades of history, we continually have an eye on the future. Geographic expansion, product innovation, and always fine-tuning our processes are essential to the success of Bop’s Frozen Custard.

What is Frozen Custard?

Custard is an old-fashioned ice cream treat created in 1919 on Coney Island, New York. It is made with all natural ingredients with no preservatives or artificial ingredients. It is served at approximately 26 degrees (compared to regular ice cream at approximately 10 degrees) which allows you to get a “true taste” without freezing your taste buds.

Another important difference is that custard has very little air whipped into it, making it denser and smoother than modern ice cream.

Bop’s Frozen Custard is made fresh throughout the day, every day. So you can expect to enjoy a smooth, flavorful treat every time!