The owner of Couple of Socks at Tacoma Mall has opened a second business across the Narrows Bridge, bringing his disability-employment model to a new community.

Jim Ciaciuch, a Gig Harbor resident, launched Couple of Scoops, an ice cream and candy shop at 5500 Olympic Dr. in Gig Harbor's Olympic Village plaza.

The shop is open in the space formerly occupied by GameStop, the Tacoma News Tribune reported Thursday, July 24.

Ciaciuch opened Couple of Socks at Tacoma Mall in 2023 to create jobs for his autistic daughter Molly and her friends. Both businesses specifically employ adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"Education is there for people with special needs and things like that. But once they get out of high school, there's nothing there," Ciaciuch told Gig Harbor Now in January, when he announced the new shop. "They just kind of get cut off."

Ciaciuch said in January that he chose the Olympic Village location because it is accessible to Pierce Transit Paratransit riders, the same criterion he used when selecting the Tacoma Mall site.

He described Gig Harbor as a community with many special-needs adults looking for work. He pays employees above minimum wage and does not view either store as a money-maker, supporting his family instead through separate self-storage businesses, according to Gig Harbor Now.

Trillium Employment Services, a nonprofit that helps adults with special needs find work, partners with the shop. Rebecca McCain, a senior employment consultant at Trillium who serves as Molly Ciaciuch's job coach, told Gig Harbor Now in January that employment gives clients "this outlet to make friends, to be social, to be a part of the society and part of the community."

Tracy Taylor, whose daughter Melyssa works at Couple of Socks at Tacoma Mall, told the outlet her daughter hoped to also work at the Gig Harbor location. The family lives in Puyallup; Pierce Transit's Paratransit shuttle would make the commute possible.

The menu

The shop serves scooped ice cream, candy, and soft-serve. Scoops start at $4.75 for a kids' size and $5.75 for a single. Milkshakes run $11, as do house-special "stackers," layered cups of ice cream, crunchy toppings, and whipped cream.

Options include the Salty Sweet (chocolate peanut butter and salted caramel ice cream, pretzels, Reese's bites, caramel sauce) and the Tutti Frutti (coconut ice cream, Fruity Pebbles, strawberry, whipped cream).

Soft-serve and Dole Whip cost $3–$5. The menu also includes dairy-free options, candy by the pound, and a pup sundae for dogs. Pints to-go are labeled with the unique handwriting of the staff member who packed them.

Couple of Scoops is open Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday through Saturday until 10 p.m. More information is at coupleofscoops.com or 253-525-8700.