Meet Jessica Dickerson of Margie’s 901
Jessica Dickerson is the manager at Margie's 901 on Main Street, the beloved local ice cream spot owned by (and named after) Jessica's mother. Get to know this friendly FACE of Memphis!
Jessica Dickerson loves to make her customers smile, and she gets to do that all day long at Margie’s 901 Homemade Ice Cream, Cakes, and Treats — the Main Street business she has managed for more than a decade with her mother (the shop’s namesake). “When I was a kid, my mother would make ice cream at home on Sundays or if family was coming over,” she says. “It was such a treat.” She enjoys carrying on her mother’s legacy of sharing this sweet treat with others, whether behind the counter serving customers or manning an ice cream station at a local event with hundreds of guests. She knows the orders of her regulars by heart and has the best recommendations for those stopping by for the first time. “Every flavor is made with love, and we mean it,” Jessica says. Get to know our newest FACE of Memphis!
Tell us about your background. How did you get involved with Margie’s 901?
I’m from Memphis and got involved in the business through my mother, Velma (her nickname was Margie). This was the second business she ventured into. We started in Peabody Place as a franchise for Maggie Moo’s. I didn’t have a background in food, but my mother saw a calling I never knew I had. She talked me into coming over to the business to check it out. I would notice different processes — how they made the ice cream and cakes — question how things were done and suggest ways to make them faster or better quality. My mother talked me into helping her manage the business, and I’ve been doing that for more than 20 years!
What makes your ice cream shop unique from others around town?
We make our ice cream in-house and hand-mix every flavor. When you come into our store, you can see the ice cream being made right in front of you on one of our eight machines. We also use a local dairy, so everything is homemade and locally sourced. That’s why we named our shop Margie’s 901. We want people to know that everything is done here in Memphis.
When it comes to our ice cream, I know everything that is in it. We don’t put in any nuts, fruits, or products people are allergic to. All our flavors are plain until a customer asks for those toppings. We work with local suppliers because we want to make sure everything gets to us as fresh as possible — that’s what gives us the best quality. Even down to our toppings! We don’t use nuts that have been sitting on a store shelf.
We have a vendor who roasts all our nuts. We also make custom cakes and have a lot of homemade specialty items, like mini pound cakes, chocolate-dipped cheesecake, strawberry shortcake waffle cones, etc. We also have sorbets and no-sugar-added flavors, giving customers more options than most places.
Margie’s 901 gets rave reviews online for its customer service. What experience do you give customers who stop by your shop?
We are surrounded by downtown apartments, so we have lots of regulars. But we also get lots of tourists. We welcome every customer who walks through the door, even if they have been here a thousand times before. At so many places now, you can’t get anyone behind the counter to acknowledge you. But for our employees, that’s part of their uniform.
I’ve become like a secret ambassador for tourists who come in and want to know where to go and what to do in Memphis. I try to venture out every week or so to local places so I can give them good reviews of places to go. We have one customer, Frank from Scotland, who has stopped by every few years over the last 20 years to get ice cream. The last time he was here, we picked him up from the airport and took him to dinner!
How many flavors do you have — and what are your most popular ones?
We make over a hundred, maybe 200, flavors. I have a background in studying the chemistry of ice cream, so it’s easy for us to make anything. We can even make custom flavors for corporations, schools, etc. Lately, I’ve done lots of weddings that want to incorporate ice cream bars. I’ve done ice cream stations for employee appreciation days for Nike and Kellogg.
Our top sellers are salted caramel cake, birthday cake, and red velvet cake. I didn’t want my name on the store, but I did want my name on an ice cream combination. So, one of our combinations is called Deneen (my middle name). It’s salted caramel cake ice cream with caramel, chocolate chips and Butterfinger. That’s mine because I’m a little sweet and a little salty!
What’s your most popular specialty item?
Our ice cream donuts! You pick the ice cream flavor you want on the inside of the donut, and we warm the outside. It’s cold and warm at the same time. It tastes like a funnel cake and ice cream had a baby!
What has been your biggest challenge in running the ice cream shop over the years?
Our biggest challenge was after COVID — trying to get that personal touch back to customers and [motivating] employees to come back to work. What kept us going was sticking to our guns and making sure we didn’t change very much of what we did.
We had a break-in during that time and had to put wood over our broken window, so I painted our menu on it and put our number at the bottom. We had outdoor seating so people could call in their orders, and we would bring it to their tables. It was contactless and much easier for everyone, so it helped us in the long run.
We were able to turn our hardship into something successful. Every now and then, we had a deejay outside our store or something special going on to bring people by and let them know we were still open.
Community service is a cornerstone of Margie’s 901. How do you give back to the community?
We have had the pleasure of serving thousands of St. Jude patients and their parents. I’m very observant of all my customers, so I always ask, “Where are you from?” And they’ll say, “We’re from such and such, and we’re down here getting treatment.” When they get all the way down to the end of the counter, we always hit a zero button so they never have to pay for ice cream.
I had one boy who didn’t eat ice cream but loved our waffle cones, so I would ask him for a hug and tell him that was his total. The last time I saw him, he gave me the biggest hug and told me it was his last day of treatment. We also have kids come into the shop for field trips. They learn how to make ice cream and waffle cones.
How has your mother inspired you as an entrepreneur?
She always had a lot of creativity and drive and had her hands in a lot of stuff. She had the ability to absorb information, which she passed along to me. It allowed her to get into and understand business. She didn’t go to college, but she went to the college of life. She took the opportunities she was given and used them to the fullest.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
My mother told me, “You can’t run a business with too many feelings. You have to care, but you also have to care about what you’re doing. You can’t be too personal with your employees.”
What are three things you can’t live without (aside from faith, family, and friends)?
My tub, so I can soak in it when I get off work, a nice bottle of wine, and a vacation every now and then.
And, our final lightning round of questions!
Last delicious local meal? Pepper steak on a bed of rice from my neighbor, Blind Bear
Favorite vacation spot? Hollywood, Florida. It was the most relaxing vacation I’ve had because I dropped my phone in the ocean.
Your go-to birthday gift (to give), and where to get it? You can’t have a birthday party without a cake from Margie’s!
All photos courtesy of Jessica Dickerson.
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Emily McMackin
Emily McMackin Dye is an Alabama native and Tennessee transplant, who recently moved to Memphis from Nashville. A freelance writer, she enjoys exploring history, culture, and the lifestyle scene surrounding her new home in The Bluff City.