Bridgewater, Va. – Smiley’s Ice Cream opened their newly built facility on Thursday, Oct. 21 after their original ground breaking of the new 205 Don Litten Parkway site in March of 2021. 

The business previously received a $20,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund — as announced by Governor Ralph Northam in January. 

The grant has expanded the business from the previous location on Mount Crawford Creamery’s farm and it has invested about $1.15 million towards the new facility and new jobs. The growth of the business will also benefit area dairy and fruit farmers as they locally source ingredients.

Smiley’s revealed that a reason for the construction of the new facility is the lack of space at the previous location. The new location has two indoor and outdoor serving lines, twice the parking space, indoor and outdoor seating areas and more storage for their frozen treats.

“The move was quite stressful, but everyone chipped in and made it happen. It required lots of long nights and busy days, but we were able to get our shop opened by last Thursday. My staff has been a huge help throughout this whole moving process,” said Derek Smiley, founder and owner of Smiley’s Ice Cream. 

Now that they own their building, they have the ability to adjust hours based on customer needs. “We are already opening at 1 p.m. now on Sundays, which is a change from our original 2 p.m. opening time,” said Smiley.

“We were very busy with our reopening, but with the increased size of the new shop, we never ran out of parking or seating inside or outside,” said Smiley. “Our old shop would give you a sense of claustrophobia when we would get busy, but the new shop does not have that feel.”

Bridgewater College students were able to support the growing business at their new location, including members of BC’s volleyball team who visited on the grand reopening instead of having practice that day. 

“The new location was super cute! It had a great view and there was a lot more seating. It was much easier to be able to sit and enjoy ice cream with a group of people,” said senior Jessica Bissmeyer of the volleyball team. 

With the close proximity to campus, the increased space allows for a new study spot for BC students. “With the increase of seating, we have a guest WIFI network so that students or customers can come and do work while enjoying our ice cream,” said Smiley.

“In the coming months, we want to host a few special events for the community at our shop. We’re still exploring ideas, but we are very excited to add events,” said Smiley. “Also, for the month of December, we will be able to offer two monthly specials and keep two weekly specials with our added storage room, which means we can debut some new holiday flavors for our customers.”