At Glen's Frozen Custard, sales of frozen novelties have been sweet

With only weeks left before the seasonal closure of Glen’s Frozen Custard, this longtime purveyor of frozen desserts in Springdale and Lower Burrell has experienced sweet sales during the pandemic and a sunny summer.

The ice cream business category is on fire now, according to the Dairy Foods website.

Sales of frozen novelties have soared 16%, to $5.8 million, and unit sales jumped 9.1%, to 1.6 million, in the last year, according to the Chicago-based market research firm IRI in the Dairy Foods article.

“Looking back at past recessions indicates that in these types of circumstances, people tend to nest (indulge at home) and reach for accessible indulgences (like ice cream), prolonging a residual yet tempered growth for the category,” according to a statement released by the global market research firm Mintel in the Dairy Foods article.

For Glen’s, business has been above normal this year because of all the good weather, according to Eli Wilson, 35, of Cheswick, a fourth-generation owner.

The copious amount of sunshine and dry days, documented as near-drought conditions by the National Weather Service, pushed sales up, he said.

“Every once in a while you get those summers that are hot and dry, and it worked out pretty well for us this year,” Wilson said. “As long as the weather is good, we do well. If the weather is bad, customers don’t want to stand outside in rain.”

The typical outdoor setup of an ice cream stand can giveth and taketh away.

Apparently, because ice cream/yogurt transactions are conducted via a window, it is naturally pandemic-safe and appealing to customers.

“I don’t think the pandemic helped anybody,” Wilson said. “We did well with it. People don’t come inside the building, and they respected social distancing guidelines and we didn’t have an issue with it.”

Indeed, with the 6-foot social distancing between customers in the queue to order, long lines resulted, sometimes as long as a block, Wilson said.

The pandemic caused greater interest in Glen’s miniature golf course behind its Springdale store as people were looking for something to do, said Mario Liberati, assistant general manager for Glen’s.

The pandemic did keep people closer to home, and perhaps some found adventure in trying new frozen custard flavors.

In fact, the new flavors this summer such as Coastal Cola, a delicate balance of two varieties of vanilla, orange and cola, sold out daily, Wilson reported.

Frozen custard is a richer frozen dairy product than ice cream, Wilson said. It differs from typical ice cream because of its recipe using whole eggs combined with a high grade of cream and butterfat that are not whipped.

Glen’s will close for the season the day before Thanksgiving.

Customers can buy Glen’s desserts year-round as it sells its products in Community Market, Giant Eagle, Shop ‘n Save and smaller markets.