Fans of Mississippi State University’s famous Edam cheese and Bully’s ice cream no longer have to drive to Starkville to pick up their favorite delicacies – the treats are now available at the Bulldog Shop in downtown Meridian.

“Meridian is the first and only place outside of Starkville that offers the Mississippi State cheese and ice cream on site,” said Dr. Terry Dale Cruse, administrative director and head of campus a MSU-Meridian. “That’s because we are a Mississippi State university campus. That’s why we were able to get the cheese and ice cream for sale here in downtown Meridian on our Riley campus.”

When expanding the Riley campus downtown, Cruse said part of that expansion included a shop, called the Bulldog Shop.

“One of the things we were extremely interested in was an old soda fountain area in the Bulldog shop,” Cruse said. “We were interested in providing a food service option for our students. In addition to that we also wanted to provide spirit apparel, as well as something that had a historical significance to our roots as an agricultural and mechanical institution.”

The first shipment of cheese and ice cream arrived Friday, and by noon more than a dozen boxes of the Edam variety had been sold. Cheddar is also available.

Customer Deanna Denson said she plans to stop by the shop frequently.

“I didn’t know it was here until this morning,” Denson said. “We usually buy some every year from people at State or go and get some. It is definitely going to be more convenient for me, especially for parties and such.”

The Bulldog Shop, which is located at 2214 Fifth St. in the MSU-Meridian Rosenbaum building, also offers MSU apparel, gourmet coffee, cookies and fresh sandwiches made locally. Its hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday. For more information call 601 484-0200.