Cold Stone Creamery franchisee opens second Middle Georgia store, this time in Macon
Calling all ice cream lovers, a Cold Stone Creamery is now open in Macon.
The brand is known for ice cream made fresh in the store and then mixed with goodies of choice on a frozen granite stone.
The new ice cream shop is at 150 Tom Hill Sr. Blvd, Suite 254, within the large Kroger shopping plaza with other retail stores.
This is the third Cold Stone Creamery for franchisee DK Shukla. His other locations are in Warner Robins and at Fort Stewart, a U.S. Army installation in Liberty County.
He opened the Warner Robins store at 2628 Watson Blvd., Suite D, in 2019.
“So many customers came from Macon, that’s the reason we can open this location,” Shukla said.
The Kroger shopping plaza was chosen because Kroger alone draws an average of 2,000 customers daily, he said.
The ice cream
Most popular among customers are the signature creations developed by Cold Stone Creamery such as the founder’s favorite, coffee lovers only and strawberry blonde, Shukla said.
The founder’s favorite is sweet cream ice cream with pecans, brownie, fudge and caramel, according to the Cold Stone Creamery website.
The coffee lovers only is coffee ice cream mixed with roasted almonds, Heath bar and caramel, while the strawberry blonde is strawberry ice cream with graham cracker pie crust, strawberries, caramel and whipped topping.
Also, Cold Stone Creamery is offering for a limited time a signature creation in collaboration with Warner Bros. to celebrate the summer movie, Barbie, according to a corporate news release posted on Cision PR Newswire.
“All that glitters is pink” combines pink cotton candy ice cream, graham cracker pie crust, dance party sprinkles and whipped topping, according to the Cold Stone Creamery website.
In addition to signature creations, customers may also create their own mixes choosing from a variety of ice cream flavors and from candy, cakes, fruits and nuts and other goodies to have folded into the ice cream.
Shukla’s favorite creation is butter pecan ice cream and cheesecake ice cream mixed together with pecans folded in.
“You get the ultimate ice cream experience,” Shukla said.
Cold Stone Creamery also offers cakes, cupcakes and cookie sandwiches.
Cakes can be signature creations or custom made in both round and rectangular shapes, including one rectangular cake that can serve 50 people, Shukla said.
Among the cake offerings is a Barbie-themed signature cake. This “best cake ever” is made with layers of yellow cake and pink cotton candy ice cream topped with white frosting and dance party sprinkles, according to Cold Stone Creamery website. Both the Barbie-themed ice cream and cake are available only until Aug. 8, the news release said.
Hands-on
For now, Shukla is hands-on at the new Macon store to get it up and running smoothly as new employees learn the ropes. Opening day was June 28.
“I have enough employees, but I’m still working because I know about everything,” he said. “So, sometimes some customers may ask about any of our signatures and I know it.
“I know how to make the banana split. I know how to make the Sundays. I know everything because I took the training from Arizona Cold Stone. These are the cornerstones of Cold Stone … So, I always want to keep the customer happy.”
Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Cold Stone Creamery is owned by franchising giant, Kahala Brands. The Cold Stone Creamery brand has about 1,500 locations in more than 28 countries, according to their website.
The Macon location can seat inside just over a dozen people and Shukla expects to add a couple of outdoor tables.
Hours are noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday, with the store expected to close only on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, he said. The number is 478-812-8882.
