Smooochie’s Homemade Ice Cream was opened on February 14, 2005, after three and one-half months of renovations of an existing building in downtown Enterprise, Alabama. Founder, Lisa Gray, chose to open an ice cream shop for a couple of reasons. First there were no ice cream shops in Enterprise to compete with and secondly Lisa had worked at an ice cream shop previously. That experience gave Lisa the basic knowledge of the equipment needed, though she knew nothing about making ice cream. She knew she had LOTS to learn and was ready to do so!
After the renovations were complete, the doors opened for a soft opening on February 14, 2005 and a Grand Opening 1 month later. Originally Lisa had planned to focus on just ice cream for the first year and then add a food menu. Customers, however, quickly convinced Lisa that adding the food earlier would be a good move. Around May, 2005, Smooochie’s started preparing sandwiches and hot dogs. In October, 2005, soups were added, and the following spring salads became the new menu item. Over the years, new sandwiches have been added to the menu. We intend to continue to develop new menu items to keep the customers interested.
Smooochie’s also opened its doors to children for class field trips and are active in the community. It is through this type of outreach that Smooochie’s has continued to grow over the years.
In 2008, Lisa decided it was time to grow through franchising. We want to bring the value-priced products with a family-friendly atmosphere of Milky Moo’s Homemade Ice Cream® Shoppe to other cities throughout the country. With the new era also came a name change. In January 2009, Lisa officially changed Smooochie’s name to Milky Moo’s Homemade Ice Cream® Shoppe. Milky Moo’s Homemade Ice Cream® Shoppe name is trademarked and will grow in brand recognition as the system grows. We are excited that franchisees will be a part of that growth.