WALLINGFORD — Though renovations remain ongoing, Cheshire local Lisa Calhoun hopes to spread her love of ice cream in October with the opening of a new ice crea shop — Sundae Afternoon. 

The ice cream parlor in the former White Way Cleaners will offer a unique space with indoor and outdoor seating for ice cream lovers to spend with family and friends. There will also be seating at the counter.

"I like how food brings people together," Calhoun said. "I just really like ice cream."

The inspiration for the name — Sundae Afternoon — was how it sounded, Calhoun said, and the feeling it evoked.

"The feeling is relaxing, time spent with family, a fun day," Calhoun said.

Calhoun considered a location in Cheshire, but the spot didn't work out.

"I had already done so much research and worked through that, so when I found this spot, I knew that this was a better location," Calhoun said.

Her vision came to life when Calhoun found the space on Church Street. So she reached out to building owner Melissa Moran. Other businesses in the plaza include Corner Shoppe and Subway. 

Her reason for opening an ice cream shop is simple – she loves ice cream. Her favorites include Snickers and dark chocolate coffee-flavored ice creams. She hopes to bring a variety of flavors everyone will enjoy.

Don Crouch, Wallingford's Economic Development Specialist, looks forward to the opening of the ice cream shop.

"It's always great to see a new business come to town and grow with Wallingford," Crouch said. "Sundae Afternoon will be a great addition to Yalesville.”

In addition to 20 flavors, Calhoun plans to offer coffee-based drinks, milkshakes, root beer floats, ice cream cakes and more.

The ice cream will be coming from the Ice Cream Club in Florida. Calhoun played around with making the ice cream herself but decided she wanted to deal more with business and working with people. 

The distributor from Florida offers over 150 flavors to choose from. The shop will offer about 20 flavors that will fit in two of her cabinets. Selections will include dairy-free options like sorbets and a few vegan flavors.

Other goodies in the shop include cake pops and chocolate-covered pretzels.

Calhoun wants a modern-day ice cream shop with some retro-feel classics as well. She also said there is an opportunity for a walk-up window but has yet to determine how that will affect traffic. That is a possibility for the future.

At the moment, Calhoun plans to open the shop the first week of October. The shop is still under construction, though, with building and painting still to be completed.

Calhoun plans for now \to be open year-round.

"It depends on how business will be, but I hope to be open year-round considering that I'm opening late in the year in October," Calhoun said.

The shop will be open seven days a week from noon to 9 p.m. at 341 Church St. in Yalesville. 

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