FALMOUTH — These hot summer days just got little bit cooler, thanks to a mother-daughter business dishing out Maine-made ice cream.

Mainely Ice Cream operates out of Nina’s Variety at 125 Bucknam Road, and serves up Sanford-based Shain’s of Maine ice cream.

Robin Williams and her daughter Greta Van Curan opened their business July 1. Williams, a flight attendant by profession, said they had been “batting around the idea (for a business together) for a long time,” and decided an ice cream shop would be popular.

Other than Super Scoops at Waldo’s on Route 1, she said there “wasn’t a whole lot else in Falmouth for ice cream,” and decided the town needed another ice cream spot.

“We wanted to be somewhere local, so we partnered with Nina’s (Variety) and Shain’s of Maine,” Williams said. She said Mainely Ice Cream is one of the only shops around that sells Shain’s of Maine.

The Cumberland residents are renting the space at Nina’s for the season. Williams said it “felt like the right spot to get started,” and they both said they liked the family atmosphere.

Advertisement

“We know everyone who works here,” said Van Curan, a rising sophomore at Greely High School.

Mainely Ice Cream is open from noon-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and Sundays from until 7 p.m. Van Curan said it’s possible they may eventually stay open until 9 p.m., which is when Nina’s closes.

The mother and daughter are planning to stay open through the end of September, but Williams said they will “see how it goes” and eventually decide whether to extend the season.

They currently sell 12 flavors of ice cream in small, large and quart sizes, as well as ice cream sandwiches made with Nina’s house-made cookies. The pair also sell sundaes with their own hot fudge sauce. Van Curan said the most popular thing on the menu so far has been their milkshakes.

Williams said she and Van Curran have gone through the entire startup process together, from forming a corporation to writing and employee handbook (they employ four of Van Curan’s school friends).

“We’re learning as we’re going,” she said.

The shop is on FacebookTwitter and Instagram

Colin Ellis can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 123 or cellis@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @colinoellis.

Sidebar Elements


Cumberland residents Robin Williams, left, and her daughter Greta Van Curan at their ice cream shop, Mainely Ice Cream, which has space at Nina’s Variety on Bucknam Road in Falmouth.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: