Canadian Creamery Emporium hosting grand opening celebration this weekend

May 12, 2022 · 0 Comments

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

When you walk into the Canadian Creamery Emporium the first thing staff will do is make you feel like part of the family.

Then new local ice cream parlor, located at 101A Main Street W, is gearing up to celebrate their grand opening this Saturday (May 14).

“We’re really excited about it,” said owner Cam Simone. “We’ve had a soft opening to get the staff into a routine, and supporters who have come out have had such positive feedback. It’s been fantastic and we can’t be more grateful to our patron for their support.”

Speaking with the Free Press, Simone said the idea to open Canadian Creamery came from the personal desire to create jobs within the community.

“In a pandemic or when there’s no work, what can we do – create work,” said Simone.

Create work it has done with almost 20 employees, many of which of young adults and teens who are experiencing their first jobs.

Owning, operating, and working at an ice cream parlour holds close ties for the Simone family. As a young teen Simone worked at his aunt’s ice cream shop in Jackson’s Point and his children have also experienced working behind the counter scooping ice cream.

Simone said their goal is to be a place where patrons can escape from the chaos of everyday life.

“We want out seniors feeling like children again, our youth creating memories and all ages in between to share those memories, whether it’s living them or reliving them,” said Simone.

While he may be the owner of the Canadian Creamery Emporium, Simone points to his four children for its success in opening.

“I always thought it would be a great business to start even as young teens,” said Baily Simone, the eldest the Simone teens. “Interacting with people, getting hands on experience, and making a fun environment for everybody is just amazing.”

In 2021, the Simone teens began contacting and touring ice cream distributors including Central Smith, Chapman’s and Kawartha. After touring the facilities and tasting a variety of ice creams, they settled on Central Smith.

“They were all amazing, but the back story behind Central Smith starting as a family-owned company’s amazing,” said Bailey Simone. “I thought it was amazing because we are starting out as a small family run business.”

Canadian Creamery Emporium has a variety of ice creams from staples like chocolate and vanilla, to unique flavours such as rum raisin, to sherbets. The ice cream shop also has flavours catering to diabetes, lactose intolerance, and is looking for vegan options in the near future.

“We want everybody to come in and at least be able to have something, some variation that will make them happy,”
said Bailey.

Canadian Creamery Emporium will celebrate its grand opening on May 14.