A new scoop shop is coming to Williston just in time for spring

Dan D'Ambrosio, Burlington Free Press
·3 min read

Island Homemade Ice Cream − Vermont's other ice cream company − is targeting May 1 to open its first-ever company-owned scoop shop, at 21 Commerce St. in Williston.

Maura Fitzgerald, operations manager, said she hopes the scoop shop will forestall visitors to the ice cream company's nearby manufacturing facility, where the doors are locked.

"I get more people stopping, even with the snow," Fitzgerald said. "It's very sad to turn people away."

Once the scoop shop opens, Fitzgerald can welcome people in. And she may be able to offer more than the 17 flavors Island Homemade Ice Cream currently offers. Fitzgerald said the original owners and founders of the company, Patti and Gary Sundberg, had more than 50 recipes for additional flavors. Today, the company is owned by Bob Lake, who purchased it in 2020.

Operations Manager Maura Fitzgerald, right, and her co-worker Celina Ellison take an ice cream break in front of the building in Williston that will become Island Homemade Ice Cream's first company-owned scoop shop.
Operations Manager Maura Fitzgerald, right, and her co-worker Celina Ellison take an ice cream break in front of the building in Williston that will become Island Homemade Ice Cream's first company-owned scoop shop.

"So we can start enlarging our flavors pallet," Fitzgerald said. "We're going to start testing (the recipes) next week to see if we like them. Some of the flavors we might just offer for the scooping."

Island's top sellers are vanilla and maple walnut, according to Fitzgerald. If neither of those are what you're looking for, there's always black raspberry, peanut butter cup or chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream to fall back on, plus a dozen other flavors.

"My favorites are the mint chocolate chip, double chocolate supreme and sea salt caramel," Fitzgerald said. "Sea salt caramel is a good one, a solid flavor. I love it when we make it. It's bad, I eat a lot."

Island Homemade Ice Cream gets its chocolate chip cookie dough from Rhino Foods in Burlington.
Island Homemade Ice Cream gets its chocolate chip cookie dough from Rhino Foods in Burlington.

Island Homemade Ice Cream's motto is that it's "Made in Vermont by Vermonters!" Fitzgerald said the company sources as many of its ingredients as it can from Vermont. The syrup for VT Maple Walnut and VT Maple Bacon flavors, for example, comes from West View Maple Works in Grand Isle. The milk-based "mix," which forms the basis for making ice cream, comes from Kingdom Creamery in East Hardwick. The chocolate chip cookie dough comes from Rhino Foods in Burlington.

From humble beginnings

The Sundbergs founded Island Homemade Ice Cream in 2004 at their home in Grand Isle. The couple started small.

"I wasn't around for this, but I believe she started in her garage right on Route 2," Fitzgerald said.

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Today, Island Homemade Ice Cream is distributed widely in Vermont and in a few locations in New Hampshire, Maine, New York and Massachusetts. It's sold in grocery stores, restaurants, resorts and small businesses. You can find the ice cream in many Hannaford stores, as well as these locations.

Fitzgerald said the scoop shop will have some indoor seating and outdoor seating as well. The May 1 opening date is contingent on getting the equipment and materials needed to outfit the shop in time.

"They're working on it right now," Fitzgerald added. "Hopefully everything comes right into line and we'll open."

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Island Homemade Ice Cream is opening a new scoop shop in Williston