If you're visiting the Jersey Shore, summer is right around the corner. You will want to stop into an ice cream place on a hot summer day to grab a cone and cool off.
Miss Mindy's Homemade Ice Cream, located in Bayville, New Jersey, is where you want to be.
What started as something small with a homemade ice cream machine in a garage and a pipe dream came to life with the help of manifestation, positivity, support of family and friends, and a lot of hard work.
About Miss Mindy's Ice Cream
Miss Mindy's came around several years ago and opened its doors on May 1, 2018.
Ice Cream has been apart of Mindy D'Addarios life since she was a small child. Her parents often took her to get Ice Cream on certain days and it was always in her house while she was growing up. Ice cream has always been a part of her background.
Though D'Addario dreamed of owning her own ice cream shop, she often left the thought in the back of her mind. As a young woman, She went away to school at TCNJ and became an educator for several years.
In 2017, she left her career as a school teacher and began to lean towards other things.
While living with her immediate family, Her husband and her daughters, she purchased a small ice cream machine and began making Ice Cream at home, right in her garage. She shared her creations with many, and with the help of her parents and her husband, she opened the original location for Miss Mindy's Homemade Ice Cream in Lacey Township.
Today, D'Addario is the sole owner of Miss Mindy's.
At first, she wasn't sure what to do, but she has learned a lot about the ice cream world over time.
"It was a learning process for me," D'Addario said.
Having the background as a former teacher, she learned there were similarities between being a teacher and being a business owner, "I feel that I had a better understanding from having a career before that."
After a year or two, the location moved to Bayville, where everyone now comes to enjoy the different types of ice cream the shop offers.
Ice Cream and Other Fun Items!
When you visit Miss Mindy's, the flavors are constantly changing. They have only 12 that stay the same and will always be there when you visit. In total they have about 29 different flavors to offer all together when they are fully stocked for the summer season—many of which are often rotated throughout the year.
The flavors that stay the same are: Chocolate, Vanilla, Cherry Vanilla, Cookies and Cream, Vanilla Peanut Butter, Black Raspberry, Strawberry, Coffee, Sweet cream, Lavender Honey, butter Pecan, Mint Chocolate Chunk, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
Not only do they have regular ice cream, but Miss Mindys also offers vegan ice cream.
For the month of March they have a new rotation of flavors such as these: Vegan sunshine and smiles, Peeps!, Space Dunk, Vegan Mint Oreo, Matcha Honey Comb, sunshine and smiles, PBSC, and Vegan Strawberry!
Currently, they are only at half capacity on the ice cream they are selling for the off-season.
Everything is homemade, from their batches to their their waffle cones.
However, it's not just ice cream they have to offer. They also have milkshakes and floats. Their flavors also change, just as the ice cream flavors do.
Miss Mindy's likes to keep things fun with a flavor of the month, It is often based on an upcoming holiday and includes the floats and milkshakes.
For example, for Valentine's Day, the Flavor offered in February was raspberry chocolate, and for Saint Patrick's Day in March, they have a shamrock-flavored milkshake.
In talking to D'Addario, she explained that certain flavors sell really well like Rainbow Cookie, which is sold exclusively during the summer. This flavor tastes like an Italian rainbow cookie.
This past year, the inventory expanded thier offerings to include ice cream sandwiches and cakes.
Another thing about Miss Mindy's is they are also very eco-friendly. Most of their cups, cones, spoons, and straws are used and made with eco-friendly material for all their customers.
Surviving the Pandemic
When the pandemic first started, the shop was still relatively new.
It was also March and they had just opened for the new season.
D'Addario had said she wasn't sure what they would manage during the shutdown.
The shop did not have that many employees working there at the time, However, she had the help of her family to get her through. The batches continued to be made, and they decided the store stayed open.
"Everyone needed something to do, and Ice cream makes many people happy, so we stayed open and made tubs of ice cream to sell."
D'Addario had spent hours, along with her family members, scooping ice cream into the tubs and had developed painful tendonitis due to how much scooping they did.
"I scooped two solid tubs, trying to get it all out. It got to be so much that it hurt my arm, but that was how we did it. We were so busy during the Pandemic, and people still wanted Ice Cream."
They served ice cream dishes during this time through a window at the front of the store.
Customers could walk right up and ask for what they wanted.
They were also able to call and order ahead of the time. She had said that customers would see her posts online, which was a big help, too.
Today, they are still selling the tubs in their gallon sized tubs in their freezers.
Miss Mindy loves their community!
Miss Mindy's Ice Cream is a part of their community and will do everything possible to help other businesses.
They help out schools and the church in town.
"Will do probably about ten fundraisers at least a year, so almost once a month. We do a lot of fundraiser nights, and if people are having a gift basket auction donation or sponsorship, if we are asked, we make a donation, " D'Addario said.
If organizations are interested, they can call, email, reach out in person to ask if they can set something up with the ice cream shop.
This month, Miss Mindy's will host their first book club within the business, and she hopes it will continue. Last year, they did a running movie night. They always have something up their sleeve for customers to come and enjoy.
The ice cream shop participates in a New Jersey ice cream tour when it comes around. Last year was their first time being a part of it, but they will be a part of it again this year.
The tour usually starts at the beginning of June and finishes by the end of July.
Last year, for the tour, there were only nine different ice cream shops; this year, there will be 12, including Miss Mindy's.
People can get a card from one of the ice cream shops they visit. When they get the card, they get a stamp for every ice cream shop they visit.
When customers visit three ice cream stores out of the many listed on the card, they can receive a small free ice cream. When they visit six, they can get a free medium ice cream. Finally, if ice cream lovers visit all 12 ice cream stores, they can get a T-shirt and a chance to win a year of free ice cream.
The Environment of Miss Mindys and The Summer Season
Miss Mindy's ice cream is always hopping.
They are not open year-round; the store closes from December to March.
Their busiest season is from May to July. Their two busiest days are Thursdays and Sundays during the summer; sometimes, even Thursday nights are busier than Sundays.
Miss Mindy's is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Customers walk into a calm, comfortable, and very colorful environment.
The staff there is always there to help you and can easily make you anything you would like. At the moment, they have about nine to thirteen employees.
Miss Mindy's has a very fun aesthetic to it. They have music in the background that always plays, their colors are just like the summer such as pink, purple, blue, green, and yellow.
They have tables and chairs for their customers to sit after they make their purchase.
They have small decorations such as ice cream cones all over the store, making it more fun for everyone and they have interesting lights that hang from the ceiling. Some of them come in purple and are arranged right over the ice cream.
D'Addario also wants to add a few more things to the ice cream shop for customers, such as an ice cream scoop height painting for kids.
The environment in the shop is very comfortable.
Check out Miss Mindys!
Customers should definitely check out Miss Mindy's Homemade Ice Cream. The ice cream is all done right there in the shop, and customers are head over heels for each of the flavors that come in.
Customers can go to their Facebook page and follow the page to see what the shop offers. It's the day, and see what is coming up for fundraisers.
Here is the official Facebook Link to their page: https://www.facebook.com/missmindysicecream
Just as they have a Facebook, Miss Mindy's has an Instagram account.
Here is the Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/missmindysicecream?igsh=NDA5ZHMzZ2l5aHph
There is one more platform where you can find Miss Mindy's, TikTok. Customers can follow that account too. They don't have much posted yet, but they get the word out while using it.
The Official TikTok Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@missmindysicecream?_t=8kau8cQjnWZ&_r=1.
Stop into Bayville this summer and taste what this excellent ice cream Shop offers or you can find them at: 155 Atlantic Blvd, Bayville New Jersey 08721 or 732-831-4563.
You can also check out their website: https://www.missmindysicecream.com/
Even the most miniature dreams can come true, especially if you put your mind to it, just as D'Addario did to make Miss Mindy's Ice Cream happen.
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