The Ice Cream Store

What The Ice Cream Store does

The Ice Cream Store is a single-location specialty ice cream parlor operating at 6 Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The business serves walk-in retail customers — primarily beach tourists and ice cream enthusiasts — through on-site consumption and take-out, hand-scooped service. It maintains two product lines: (1) a homemade line of 100+ artisan flavors produced in-house using high-butter-fat milk sourced from Woodside Farm Creamery in Hockessin, Delaware, where Jersey cows are specifically bred for ice cream production; and (2) a regular line of commercially manufactured ice cream distributed under partner brands including Turkey Hill, HP Hood, Hershey Creamery, Galliker's Dairy, Bassetts, Leiby's, Yuengling, and Gifford's. Several of the homemade flavors have placed at the NICRA National Championship (Milk Chocolate, Buttery Salted Caramel), the Ice Cream Social, the Rehoboth Beach Chocolate Festival, and have been featured on Food Network's Unwrapped. Complementary products include milkshakes, fresh fruit smoothies, fresh-baked waffle cones and bowls, Italian ice and sorbets, and sundaes. The Flavor Graveyard — a public archive of retired flavors customers can petition to revive — is used as a customer engagement mechanism. No e-commerce, mobile app, delivery, wholesale, or franchise surface is in evidence.

The business is privately held, founder-owned, bootstrapped, and operates from a single storefront with no disclosed institutional investors, funding history, or parent company. Go-to-market is anchored on the destination foot-traffic model of Rehoboth Beach, supplemented by organic social media on Instagram and Facebook (@theicecreamstore) and word-of-mouth amplified by recurring television features on NBC, ABC, the Today Show, History TV Channel, and Food Network. Pricing is quote-based / transactional at the counter with no disclosed price points. The operating model is fundamentally seasonal and geographic — a single physical retail unit dependent on tourist volume — with product innovation (novel flavor launches, retired-flavor revivals) as the principal form of differentiation. No digital channel, no app, no API, and no integration surface is evident; the technology stack is limited to artisan production equipment, a GoDaddy-built website, and standard social media accounts.

Name

The Ice Cream Store

Legal name

The Ice Cream Store

Website

https://rehobothbeachicecream.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Ice Cream Store is a single-location independent ice cream parlor in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, serving walk-in tourists and locals with 100+ homemade artisan flavors (using high-butter-fat milk from Woodside Farm Creamery) plus commercial brands, milkshakes, sorbets, and sundaes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Ice Cream Parlor

NAICS

Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Manufacturing (311520), Specialty Food Retailers (4452)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts (2024)

akta.pro primary industry

Ice Cream & Gelato Shops (THAFAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Dessert Cafes (Coffee + Desserts) (THAFADAH), Ice Cream, Frozen Desserts & Novelties Manufacturing (AFAKAKAE)

Keywords

• Artisan ice cream
• Ice cream parlor
• Hand scooped ice cream
• Homemade ice cream
• Specialty dessert retail

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Ice Cream Store is a single-location walk-in ice cream parlor at 6 Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, offering more than 100 flavors of homemade and commercially produced ice cream, plus milkshakes, fresh fruit smoothies, freshly baked waffle cones and bowls, Italian ice/sorbets, and sundaes. Homemade flavors are made in-house using high butter-fat milk from Jersey cows at Woodside Farm Creamery in Hockessin, Delaware, and include national award-winning varieties. The store also offers a Flavor Graveyard archive of retired flavors that customers can request to be revived.

Product overview

The Ice Cream Store is a single-location specialty ice cream retailer in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware offering two product lines: (1) Homemade Ice Cream — over 100 artisan flavors made in-house with premium ingredients from Woodside Farm Creamery, including award-winning varieties like National Blue Ribbon winners and Ice Cream Social competition placements; and (2) Regular Ice Cream — commercially manufactured brands including Turkey Hill, Hershey Creamery, HP Hood, and others. The store also offers add-on products including milkshakes, fresh fruit smoothies, freshly baked waffle cones and bowls, Italian ice/sorbets, and sundaes. A unique Flavor Graveyard feature showcases retired flavors that customers can request to be revived.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Homemade Ice Cream Artisan ice cream made in-house featuring over 100 unique flavors including award-winning varieties like African Vanilla, Crack, Better Than Sex, and Death by Peanut Butter. Made with premium ingredients including Madagascar Bourbon Island vanilla and Woodside Farm Creamery milk.
• Regular Ice Cream Commercially manufactured ice cream from partner brands such as Turkey Hill, HP Hood, Hershey Creamery, Galliker's Dairy, Bassetts, Leiby's Premium Ice Cream, Yuengling, and Gifford's, offered in classic and specialty flavors including Chocolate, Vanilla Bean, Strawberry, Moose Tracks, and Magical Unicorn.
• Milkshakes Hand-scooped ice cream blended into creamy milkshakes, available in any of the store's ice cream flavors.
• Fresh Fruit Smoothies Refreshing fruit-based smoothies made with fresh fruit ingredients.
• Waffle Cones and Bowls Freshly baked and rolled waffle cones and bowls served alongside ice cream orders.
• Italian Ice and Sorbets Non-dairy frozen dessert options including Key Lime, Mango, Raspberry, Pear, and Watermelon sorbets, available for lactose-intolerant customers.
• Sundaes Ice cream sundaes featuring various toppings and sauce options.
• Flavor Graveyard A curated archive of retired ice cream flavors from the store's history, including unique creations like Aztec Chocolate, Ben Franklin's Spicy Hot Chocolate, and Butter Beer Ice Cream; customers can request discontinued flavors to be revived.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams: Premium artisan ice cream brand with direct-to-consumer pints and a growing retail scoop shop footprint. Highly comparable to The Ice Cream Store on flavor innovation, premium ingredients, and brand-led storytelling.
• Bassetts Ice Cream: Heritage Philadelphia ice cream brand sold through retail partners and carried by The Ice Cream Store. Comparable as a partner brand whose products are stocked alongside the homemade line, and as a peer in regional premium ice cream retail.
• Kilwins Chocolates, Fudge & Ice Cream: National franchise of destination storefronts selling premium ice cream, chocolates, and confections. Comparable on the experiential retail format, handmade product positioning, and beach/tourist town locations.
• Mitchell's Ice Cream: Long-standing artisan ice cream parlor with a regional footprint and homemade recipes. Comparable on business model (single-region scoop shop), flavor library depth, and emphasis on in-house production.
• Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop: Destination-style ice cream and chocolate retail concept in high-traffic tourist locations. Comparable on the premium indulgence positioning, picture-perfect sundae experience, and tourist-driven foot traffic model.
• Salt & Straw Ice Cream: Multi-location artisan ice cream scoop shop known for unusual, story-driven flavors. Comparable to The Ice Cream Store on creative flavor development (e.g., bacon, beer, exotic spices) and a small-batch, premium positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Cold Stone Creamery: Large national franchise of ice cream scoop shops with customizable mix-ins. Comparable on the ice cream scoop shop format and product line, but operates at a much larger scale and a more standardized model.
• Häagen-Dazs Shops: Owned brand stores from a major global ice cream manufacturer, offering a premium scoop shop experience. Comparable on premium ice cream retail format but backed by a much larger incumbent manufacturer.

Others

• Woodside Farm Creamery: Delaware farm and creamery that supplies milk and cream to The Ice Cream Store. Comparable as a Jersey cow dairy supplying premium butterfat milk, and also operates its own on-farm ice cream retail and best-new-flavor contest referenced in the company's history.
• Turkey Hill Dairy: Regional dairy and ice cream manufacturer whose products are stocked at The Ice Cream Store as part of the regular ice cream line. Comparable as a partner brand supplying the store's premium and novelty commercial ice cream SKUs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-ice-cream-store

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Ice Cream Store