A partnership between Jackie’s Custard and McClements Farm Country Store, resulting in the new Mill Pond Country Store and Creamery expected to open soon in Brighton, has ended.
Elyse Moore of McClements Farm confirmed the business had pulled out of the new store on Sept. 2.
“We are no longer partnering with the owners of Jackie’s Custard on the Mill Pond Country Store and Creamery,” she said. “For now, you can find us at 411 Mill Pond Lane.”
Moore and Andrea Cartier operated businesses side-by-side on Mill Pond Lane in 2023 and 2024. Moore, who owns McClements with her husband Caleb, was meant to relocate entirely into the new space at 420 W. Main St. — while Jackie’s Custard, owned by Cartier and her partner David Beattie, was meant to continue operating independently while contributing products to the new store.
Jackie’s Custard has confirmed via social media that Cartier and Beattie will continue toward opening Mill Pond Country Store and Creamery alone, though Cartier told The Daily the choice to leave the partnership was theirs.
“We left this partnership two months ago,” she said. “It’s not a good situation, but we’re trying to take care of it privately. I don’t even know what was said online. At this point, I don’t care. This is our life, this is our business, we’re not going to let it be destroyed.”
In a statement to The Daily, Moore refuted that claim.
“That is unequivocally false,” Moore wrote. “(Cartier) made a recent post about Jackie’s Custard now being the sole owner of the new store. If anything, this information supports our belief that she never intended for us to partner on this business.”
Tensions between the businesses reached a breaking point, according to Moore, on Aug. 25, when she decided to remove McClements Farms’ contributions from the shop on Main Street.
According to screenshots provided to The Daily, ownership at Jackie’s Custard posted there’d been a robbery on social media.
“Mill Pond Country Store and Creamery was robbed,” the post, which has since been removed, read. “The opening has been delayed due to the theft. We are pursuing charges at this time. If anyone has any old-style shelving units or old tables, anything would help at this point. We are totally devastated about this and thought you might be able to help.”
The Brighton Police Department later issued a statement confirming the incident was “a civil dispute and not a robbery.”
“Literally everything was taken,” Cartier told The Daily. “All of our furniture … we were always 100% owners, so to take anything would probably be illegal, I’m sure. … It truly is a matter of lost income, having to start from the beginning. We feel it’s best just to carry on and not allow that to get into our lives.”
Moore, again, disagrees with that interpretation.
“The things that were removed were all things that were purchased with funds from McClements Farm,” she said. “There were materials removed from only one vendor, and that person was promptly contacted the next day to pick up their items. I had a key to the building because my name is on the lease — and none of those items were owned by Mill Pond Country Store and Creamery. I removed those items in broad daylight.”
Several days later, Jackie’s Custard posted to Facebook, asking all vendors to reach out, since “the vendor list is unavailable.”
“If any funds or products were provided to Elyse Moore/McClements Farm, please notify us immediately so that we can address the matter appropriately,” the business wrote.
McClements Farm issued a response on social media Sept. 1.
“We haven’t wanted to make this even more of a spectacle than it has recently become, which is why we haven’t said much about the ongoing situation downtown,” the post read. “However, our integrity has been called into question and now we have to make a statement.
“McClements Farm never has (nor ever will) keep a vendor’s inventory without their consent. We have also never taken funds from any vendors, which is a confusing claim at best. Posts made recently by Jackie’s Custard Co. in attempts to tarnish our reputation and the reputations of our owners are blatantly false. All vendors in our country store are here by choice and their inventories are here with permission.”
Cartier said she wasn’t accusing Moore.
“I just wanted to make sure they all got their items back,” she said.
What’s next for Mill Pond Country Store and Creamery?
Mill Pond Country Store and Creamery was meant to be an “immersive experience,” mimicking the country stores and diners popular in past decades, Moore previously told The Daily.
McClements Farm, which sells freeze-dried foods and goods produced by local vendors, planned to transfer many of its products to the new storefront, while Jackie’s Custard planned to supply ice cream — a recent addition to the store’s traditional custard-based goods — for root beer floats, malts and shakes.
According to Cartier, the planned business is still coming to Main Street, and will “be even better.”
“We’re adding antiques and furniture,” she said. “I just got that clearance from my landlord. Our timeline is hopefully by (Destination Stars Hollow), but that might not happen. … I believe the store will be definitely be better than anybody can imagine.”
The shop will have a soda fountain with Coca Cola, as well as a children’s area. It will also center on expanded offerings from Gelardi Produce.
“I think people will be very appreciative to get the fruits, the vegetables, the jams, the jellies,” Cartier said.
The broken partnership, however, has left a mark.
“I am terminally ill,” Cartier said. “We did this out of love. This company was going to go to Caleb and Elyse upon my death. That will never happen.”
— Cassandra Lybrink is the local editor of The Livingston Daily. Contact her at clybrink@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: ‘Blatantly false’: Dispute ends partnership behind Mill Pond Country Store in Brighton
Reporting by Cassandra Lybrink, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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