April 29, 2022

Parlour Ice Cream House has reopened for the season with new ownership and plans for adding new menu items.

Manager Emma Houwman is part of the new ownership group, which took over from founders Chris and Caryn Hanmer.

“I think people are really happy it’s still going to be here,” she said of the shop, which is at 340 S. Main Ave. inside Washington Square.

“There’s a lot of opportunity in this space and in downtown, and just bringing people together with ice cream is simple and sweet.”

Parlour opened with 10 flavors, including two sorbets — strawberry lemonade and mango — and two gelatos. Returning favorites include Opening Day, which is made with brown butter ice cream, blueberry jam and lemon pound cake, and Cookies ‘N Cream.

Plus, there’s a new addition from production manager Lizzy Nickel, who held the same role previously at Parlour, in Ruthie’s Caramel Heath Crunch — an ice cream named in honor of her mother.

“And then we have your traditional vanilla, chocolate and strawberry because you can’t go wrong with those,” Houwman said.

The sale of the business also included a large database of flavors that will be used throughout the season.

Once the shop is open for a bit, the plan is to add ice cream sandwiches, using locally baked cookies, and root beer floats.

“We’re talking with a few bakeries about where to get our cookies, but we think it would be cool to get two customer groups together, and those will be in two to three weeks once everything else is up and running,” Houwman said.

Hours will be expanding from previous seasons. The shop will open at 4 p.m. daily until school is out, and then expand to noon to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

“We’re hoping … being open longer, we can extend the product to more guests,” Houwman said.

She’s still looking for more employees, especially for weekends. To apply, email [email protected].