Dishing It Out
Handels Homemade Ice Cream Celebrates 20 Years as a Frosty Fixture in Fishers
Writer / Renee Larr
Photographer / Sam Zachrich
For the last 20 years, Handels Homemade Ice Cream has been a fixture in the downtown Fishers area, scooping up handmade ice cream with high-quality ingredients. Greg Glaros opened the Fishers location in June of 2002. Glaros grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, where the brand began, but he never realized he would own three locations as an adult.
I was working in the consumer electronics business and moved to Indianapolis around 1991, Glaros says. I just wanted to do something different, and originally I was going to go into the pizza business. I looked around but nothing clicked.
Thats when fate intervened. His brother-in-law told him Handels was franchising. Initially Glaros looked into the Carolinas, but again nothing clicked. Then he found his prime spot in downtown Fishers.
When we first opened, downtown Fishers was very different, Glaros says. It was almost all residential. We did a lot of advertising and couponing in those first few months. We felt like they would love it if people just tried the ice cream.
Each day the store offers 45 different flavors of ice cream, made on-site with plenty of add-ins. Fishers fan favorites include Butter Pecan, Oree-dough, Chocoholic Chunk, Mint Chocolate Chip and Graham Central Station.
In the early days Glaros had no idea how popular his three northside locations would eventually be. Handels has a cult-like following, with people driving from other central Indiana cities to get their hands on a pint. Opening his second location in Carmel and his third location in Noblesville allowed for easier access for customers.
Glaros describes Handels as an actual family business. In June of 2006, Fishers Magazine gave Handels Best Dessert honors in its Peoples Choice Awards. Glaros daughter, Gina Glaros, graced the cover of the magazine. The proud father notes that Gina works at WTHR as an anchor on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and as a reporter during the week. Before finding a broadcasting job, she was the Fishers store manager for six months.
Glaros has turned over some of the day-to-day operations of all three stores to his son, Jonny Glaros, and his fiancée, Jackie Kollath. Glaros says this business has been a wonderful family bonding experience. His brother-in-law even opened the first southside location in Greenwood at about the same time Glaros opened his Noblesville location.
It means so much to me that our Fishers location has done so well over the last years, Glaros says. People love to come there and hang out. Parents bring their kids. People go there on dates. It brings so much social activity to the area. Its kind of become a Fishers landmark in the changing downtown landscape.
To celebrate their 20th anniversary, the team in Fishers is offering customers $2 small-sized regular cones or dishes at the Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville locations on June 12.
Handels Homemade Ice Cream is located at 8760 East 116th Street in Fishers. For more information, call 317-585-8065 or visit handelsicecream.com.
