we're so back with this theory - streets are even calling it dinergate
i went to check out the store in s2 ep1 and s3 ep2 since those episodes are where the characters move around in the space and you can see a lot inside the store. but i just cannot find any single place that would having anything to do with making and serving milkshakes. and i also looked at these pictures from the filming locations.
it's not too crazy for general stores to have some kind of collaboration with a restaurant or some kind of space for food service. i've been in tiny general stores with a whole spot for a pizza service tucked away in the corner. but in melvald's, i was not able to find any other counters besides the kodak counter and the pharmacy counter. melvald's isn't that small but i don't know if they could fit one more counter with food service in the store. it is possible that when the owners relaunched, they dedicated one little spot to keep the diner vibes alive. but how likely is that?
my next thought was like well maybe they condensed it. even if it sounds dumb! i just wanted to look into it for fairness. like my thought process was... i guess it wouldn't be impossible for there to be some sort of space for ice cream. a place to get milkshakes like... maybe near the pharmacy counter. think of that strange little store in it's a wonderful life that's both a drugstore and an ice cream bar. but there's no equipment for that from what i can tell. no machines. no cups. no seating. plus anything like that would be like way outdated by the 80s? it just doesn't seem logical.
melvald's was relaunched sometime between the 50's and the early 80s. the wiki says it was most likely due to competition from benny's burgers which opened in 1956. but let's just go with the ice cream drugstore theory for a minute. that still wouldn't be a thing in the 50s either. the owners wouldn't relaunch their store with something that was already going out of style. those soda pharmacies were prohibition hangout spots. melvald's was a typical diner. already a hangout spot. where would the owners get the idea for all that crazy soda pop drugstore ice cream bar bullshit for the relaunch lmao it was just a diner turned general store.
i have not personally seen the first shadow, i don't know the exact layout of melvald's before its relaunch. but from my understanding based on how it's written about in the wiki and spoken about in the reviews, it was just a diner. and from what we've seen in the show, it's now just a store. it just doesn't make any sense for the owners to be like let's relaunch our business and condense a space to do the thing that's already outdated to keep our old diner vibes alive. they already have enough shit going on in there. the store is just what we see in the show. it's got a kodak counter and a pharmacy counter and that's it. i think it's more likely that they left the diner in the past. it's no longer a hangout spot nor does it need to be. it's a store.
the only thing i might've missed is something in the WSQK ads. the ads that i've heard for melvald's just speak about it like a standard general store. just a come on in and buy some snacks and christmas lights. but i could have missed something. i could be wrong! not saying i'm not.
but what is more believable? that the writers just fucked up? that they don't know their own in-universe stores and what kind of products could be offered where? were they like yeah let's pretend melvald's diner was relaunched into a general store, but the owners for some reason wanted to keep the diner vibes alive and had this wild idea and brought back this one weird thing from the fucking prohibition era that didn't exist in the diner in the first place just y'know for the kids to hang out at our general store. no. and what little teenage boy in the 80s is like woohoo malted milkshakes. just call it a milkshake. or ice cream? i'm like 70% sure there's at least one ice cream freezer in melvald's but still... look. it's weird and we all know it's weird. something's up with will.
