ORLANDO, Fla. — After years of memories making ice cream, a local sweet staple is making moves to expand.
Kelly Seidl, the owner of Kelly’s Ice Cream, says she hopes to open 17 more counters and two more scoop shops — standalone ice cream stores — this year, in addition to its first corporate headquarters in Altamonte Springs.
That location will give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the process, Seidl said.
What You Need To Know
- Kelly's Ice Cream owner Kelly Seidl says she plans to open 17 more ice cream counters and two more scoop shops this year
- She also plans to open a corporate headquarters in Altamonte Springs that will allow visitors to view the ice cream-making process
- Seidl's fist Kelly's location is on Corrine Drive in Orlando's Audubon Park
- She says she is also considering buying a farm to make the milk needed for her ice cream
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself," she said. "When it comes to life, I think it’s going to more hit home.”
The ice cream company already supplies its products to 23 counters and runs six scoop shops from Jacksonville to Pompano Beach.
The concept was born out of Seidl’s home kitchen, as she and her husband mixed and mused about flavors, which she would then test out on her nursing colleagues at the hospital.
Seidl had scooped her way through college, and once in Central Florida, she says she quickly realized there was a market for local, homemade ice cream. She and her husband later started selling their ice cream at farmers' markets before taking it mobile with a food truck.
Her first shop on Corrine Drive in Orlando’s Audubon Park remains one of her favorites, as the company relies upon two machines there — nicknamed Bessie and Gertie — to produce all the ice cream for operations.
“This is my home shop and it’ll always be my home shop. I slept through hurricanes in the back,” she said. “We’re not going to go anywhere.”
But processing will be shifting to the Altamonte Springs location, which boasts a footprint of roughly 8,750 square feet.
And as the company expands, Seidl said she is also eyeing a unique “cow to cone” concept. She’s been visiting farms out of state, her family in tow, to learn about the notion of agritourism. She envisions buying a farm somewhere in Central Florida where she can have cows to produce the milk needed for her ice cream dreams within the next several years.
“This is a bit opposite: Most people have a family dairy, or a farm, they turn into, they make ice cream,” she said. “We are doing the reverse … people think we’re crazy. I say, ‘Watch and see.'"
In the meantime, Seidl said that she relies upon her husband and three children to stay rooted, as well as an all-women leadership team for expert guidance.
“It’s hard to believe where we came from, where we are today,” Seidl said. “. It’s insane. I’ve put my head down and did what I needed to do … I think you can do anything you want. No one can tell you no.'