NORTHAMPTON — Before customers choose from more than 60 flavors on any given day at Herrell’s Ice Cream & Sweet Bakery, some of them take a seat on the “pondering bench.”
Such an important decision: They want to get it right.
“People will stare at the flavors off the menu board for a while until they figure out what they want,” said Judy Herrell, owner of the downtown institution that opened on Old South Street in 1980.
The pondering bench is just one addition to the remodeled store. On Jan. 22, after almost a year of renovations, Herrell’s fans streamed in for free cookies a la mode at noon at a grand re-opening celebration.
Other changes include more seating, a swivel chair bar and all new, energy-efficient equipment. The celebration came after six years of planning and $700,000 in renovations — and counting.
The shop sells on a rotating basis 60 flavors out of about 370 in the hopper.