Entrepreneurial dreams can come true: Just ask the co-owner of Tropical Homemade Ice Cream, a new shop that debuted in West Chester on Sunday, June 12.
Noelia Scharon, who shares ownership of the store with her nephew, Tony Nieves, was one of the founders of La Michoacana Homemade Ice Cream, which opened in June 2003 in the 200 block of East State Street in Kennett Square.
Since then, the Kennett Square business has not only flourished, but it also spawned Michoacana Grill, a restaurant a few blocks away in the 200 block of South Union Street. But Scharon said she had always longed to open a business in what she considers her hometown, and her partners – Manuel and Martha Rodriguez and Juvenal Gonzalez – gave her their blessing.
In fact, La Michoacana Homemade Ice Cream will supply Tropical Homemade Ice Cream, located at 125 N. Church Street, with its products: handcrafted popsicles, water ice and ice cream. Scharon said her La Michoacana collaborators understood her interest in establishing a West Chester venue and were happy to extend their reach without any additional commitment.
“I was born in Puerto Rico,” Scharon explained, “but I grew up in West Chester, and my sons were born here. To me, this is home.”
Scharon remembers the day nearly 15 years ago when she decided she did not want a permanent career in the mushroom industry. She convinced Gonzalez and the Rodriguezes that the area lacked the kind of ice cream and water ice that is popular in tropical countries and that they could fill the void.
The foursome committed themselves to 80-hour-plus workweeks and opened La Michoacana Homemade Ice Cream – named after Gonzalez’s home state in Mexico – in June 2003 in the 200 block of East State Street. In addition to standard vanilla and chocolate, it offered flavors that included passion fruit, guava, rice pudding, avocado and toasted coconut. Containers of cinnamon and chili powder for dusting on the ice cream rest on the counter, beckoning the more adventurous palates.
As word of mouth spread about the mouth-watering offerings, Scharon said the business developed some diehard fans, who still travel regularly for more than an hour to stock up on their favorites. The most popular of the unusual flavors is corn ice cream, she said. Mushroom ice cream is featured during Kennett Square’s annual Mushroom Festival.
Because the business is seasonal – typically shutting down from November to March – the group opened Michoacana Grill, a Mexican-style restaurant, in October 2011. Not surprisingly, it features signature La Michoacana popsicles.
For now, Scharon said she plans to divide her time between West Chester and Kennett Square, a regimen that guarantees long days. She acknowledged that she wished there were more hours in the day, but she said she intends to do her part to ensure that both businesses are successful.
On opening day, she expressed gratitude to the many relatives and friends who helped her get the business ready, from assisting with the setup and décor to designing brightly-colored staff t-shirts. Many also effectively served as marketing ambassadors; although the debut was advertised only through social media, a steady stream of customers kept the employees busy on Sunday.
One of them, Kseniya Hess, surveyed dozens of offerings – many created with fresh fruit – before settling on coffee ice cream. She said she had been dining with a group of friends, when one of them, Nick Barba, ran into Scharon’s son Andres, who told them the shop had just opened.
Barba grew up in Kennett Square so he was already a Michoacana fan – he ranks the lime and mango water ices among his top favorites – and so he encouraged the group to take a short detour. Hess, who lives nearby the shop, was glad that he did.
“I’m really excited to have this close by,” she said.
Brian Farrell, another opening-day customer, immediately gravitated to the corn ice cream, Michoacana’s best-selling flavor. “Try it with some cinnamon and chili powder,” Scharon suggested.
Farrell explained that he knew about the unconventional flavor because he also grew up in Kennett Square and was a frequent patron of La Michoacana Homemade Ice Cream during high school. Farrell brought three friends with him from outside the area. They were sufficiently impressed that Farrell got his reward: One of his friends insisted on paying.
Scharon said she plans to keep hours from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; however, they could change. She said it typically takes a half-hour to close, and if customers show up, they’ll be served.
“We’re going to let the public decide when we’re going to close,” she said. “I’m just so excited that this is really happening. It really is a dream come true.”
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