Pittsburgh-based Millie’s Ice Cream is preparing to open its first Maryland location in Gaithersburg’s Downtown Crown.
Millie’s will be opening at 202 Ellington Blvd., in the space most recently occupied by The Crepe Shoppe before its relocation to 230 Crown Park Ave.
Founded in Pittsburgh in 2014 by husband-and-wife team Chad and Lauren Townsend, Millie’s began as a small homemade ice cream operation run out of the couple’s kitchen. After years working as a chef in fine dining, Chad Townsend decided to make a career change and purchased a Paco-Jet™, a high-end Swiss-made appliance used to create ultra-smooth ice creams and sorbets.
According to the company, the purchase came with one major condition from Lauren Townsend, the expensive machine had to pay for itself by the end of the summer. The couple soon began making and delivering handcrafted pints on weekends before eventually growing the business into what is now known as Millie’s Ice Cream Works.
Over the past decade, Millie’s has expanded throughout the Pittsburgh region with multiple scoop shop locations, a food truck, grocery store pint distribution, and franchise growth in Florida and Texas. The company says its mission is to “spread love” through scratch-made super premium ice cream crafted with ingredients sourced from local farmers and artisans.
An opening date for the Downtown Crown location has not yet been announced.
