Popular ice cream shop chain is coming to Indian Land. Here’s what makes it different
RedStone in Indian Land will add a new ice cream spot at the shopping center this spring. Ohio-based Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream will go in the former Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt spot at 9716 Red Stone Dr., suite 100.
New store owner Zack Davis also has a Handel’s in Gastonia, North Carolina. Davis said the Indian Land location should open in late March or April.
“When it’s warm outside and there’s pretty weather, the ice cream business is better than it is right now,” Davis said.
Davis won’t just rely on the heat. Handel’s has 100 flavors, with 48 at a time and other on seasonal or monthly rotation. Each store makes its ice cream in-store, daily.
”It’s homemade,” Davis said. “It’s made fresh, best ingredients. I’m biased. It just makes it better.”
Davis said customers can expect ice cream with a soft creamy texture, but it isn’t soft serve. It’s hand-scooped and available in pints, quarts, cones, milkshakes and banana splits. Davis said people can taste the difference at Handel’s compared to ice cream that’s made off-site, frozen and shipped before being brought back to serving temperature. He did.
“I didn’t realize I was having bad ice cream my whole life,” Davis said.
Handel’s has more than 110 existing or announced locations in 13 states. Most of them are in Ohio or California. Last year, Handel’s announced a location coming to Columbia, and has another coming to Clemson.
North Carolina has four locations. They include the Gastonia spot that opened in early 2022 and one owned by Davis’s sister McKenzie near Charlotte Premium Outlets in Steele Creek. It opened last year.
About Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream
Handel’s began in 1945 when Alice Handel began making ice cream with homegrown fresh fruit in Youngstown, Ohio. Many of her recipes are still used in Handel’s stores.
Most Handel’s locations are walk-up stores.
The Gastonia one is the only walk-in store in the Southeast, Davis said. The Indian Land spot will be walk-up with a large patio. It’ll sometimes have music. Other than limited winter hours, the Indian Land shop will be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. At peak summer season the store could employ close to 30 people.
Davis said he loves ice cream and could eat it any day, or on any occasion. But for some it’s a night-out treat.
Davis sees a great pairing at RedStone with the RedStone 14 movie theater right beside the shop. Movies are great for date nights, spending time with kids or entertaining family on a visit, he said. So is ice cream.
“That’s the goal, to be that neighborhood ice cream spot,” Davis said.
