Delicious Design Ideas for Your Ice Cream Parlor

Ice cream parlors are venues where customers can enjoy a variety of frozen treats, including ice creams, gelatos, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Typically, ice cream is served in three main forms:

• Soft serve with chocolate and vanilla as the primary flavors
• Hard packed
• Gelato featuring a broad range of flavors, often as many as the parlor can offer

These frozen delights are served in cones, cups, milkshakes, and sundaes. Some parlors also offer ice cream cakes, bars, pre-packaged frozen treats, and even hot fast foods. However, two essential elements that ice cream shops rely on to enhance their space are theme and ambience.

Crafting exceptional ice cream alone doesn't guarantee success for an ice cream shop. The design of the shop itself is a critical factor. It must create a cozy, inviting, functional, and clean atmosphere. Displaying your venue in the best possible light can attract customers and make your products stand out by using the ideal combination of restaurant furniture, lighting, and color.

Apart from being one of the world’s most popular treats of all time, ice cream also presents a sweet business proposition. With enough dedication, capital, creative ice cream parlor decorations, and the right supplies, your dreams of operating a successful ice cream shop may be closer than you realize. But there are several factors to consider before you announce your grand opening. Will you take the traditional route and serve ice cream by the scoop? Or will you adapt to newer trends such as frozen yogurt? You may decide to sell ice cream from a vendor or you may craft your own artisan flavors. You may also include a number of food items and drinks to pair with the ice cream you sell. When contemplating about starting your own ice cream business, there is what to consider turning your venture into a success. Likewise, you need to decide what type of business you will run before you design a layout plan or determine what kind of equipment you will need:

• Start-up capital
• Market research
• Independent operation or franchise
• Developing a concept
• Store location
• Designing a menu
• Labor and training
• Business license and/or permit

Regardless to how simple or elaborate your ice cream parlor is, you will need a lot of supplies. Depending on how condensed or exhaustive your menu is, your list of equipment needs may exponentially grow. Storage is especially important. How you decide to store dry and cold food items and with what are up to you. But at the very least, you should have airtight storage bins and shelves. You will need refrigeration as well. If you own a small shop, then reach-in coolers are essential. Walk-in coolers and freezers are necessary for larger venues. If you offer baked goods, you will need an oven and/or a waffle cone maker to make your own cones. Serveware is crucial for storing, organizing and presenting cups, bowls, utensils, napkins, and a number of dispensers.