Novel Ice Cream, a community-driven business known for their made in-house ice cream, serves their handcrafted products at three locations in the Valley.
The owner, Shawn Allard, strives to build a strong community around Novel.
Allard purchased the business back in August 2023 after becoming inspired by how strong the Novel brand was locally. Novel gives back to the community through giveaways and by donating to a variety of organizations.
“Novel is just a very Arizona brand, and we want to double down on making it as successful in Arizona as possible by really building our core community around Arizona,” said Allard.
The diversity and challenges that each day brings is what keeps Allard going.
He enjoys providing the team with a positive experience and allowing them to grow with Novel as well. Novel has nearly 30 team members in total split between all locations.
“It’s honestly a really awesome job,” said Chantelle Sinkler, an employee at Novel’s newest location in Old Town Peoria. “Everybody who works here is very nice and welcoming. The environment overall is very clean, and we get to interact with awesome customers, different people from different walks of life.”
The Peoria location opened on Aug. 27 and is the latest of three Novel locations including downtown Phoenix and downtown Mesa.
Novel’s first location opened on March 15, 2017, in downtown Phoenix before it was purchased by Allard.
Allard dreamed of being a business owner from a very young age. He said he always knew it was a part of his journey. He decided to purchase Novel after connecting with the previous owner. Allard had a desire to do something fun and creative with the business.
He credits the previous owner for establishing the foundation and growing the brand for the six years leading up to his purchase.
Novel is passionate about making their products as high quality as possible and makes their ice cream and donuts daily. They want customers to have the best possible product and experience every time they come to Novel.
“They always have really good rotating flavors. It’s just like really good flavors and really good service. Everyone’s really friendly always,” said Stephanie Richard, a frequent Novel customer.
Luiz Meneghim, a loyal customer who’s been to all three locations, said before the Old Town Peoria location opened, he frequented the Mesa location and liked how it’s in a “cool little hidden spot.”
Both Richard and Meneghim think Novel’s signature Dough Melt is the best product on the menu.
The Dough Melt is ice cream inside of a glazed donut bun. It’s pressed in a way that warms the outside donut bun while keeping the ice cream inside cold. The Dough Melt can be made with any flavor of ice cream and any topping available.
One of Allard’s many goals for Novel is to expand to double digit locations, and he aims to have at least 10 locations very soon.
“I really just want to build a very like — one of the strongest teams in food and beverage that there is in Arizona, and then from there just work on improving the brand itself by doubling down on events for the community,” said Allard.
Edited by Shi Bradley
