‘It was an honor.’ Cary ice cream shop that employs people with disabilities to close
An ice cream parlor in downtown Cary is closing its doors after a year downtown.
Howdy Homemade Ice Cream announced on social media that its last day will be Nov. 24.
The parlor opened in February with a line of customers on South Walker Street, next to Downtown Cary Park.
The nonprofit business, founded in Texas in 2015, creates jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It has nine locations, including in Cary and Asheville.
Phillip Lin, owner of the Cary parlor, told The News & Observer that the store helped people learn career skills and grow personally and professionally. Over half of the 15 employees who have worked at the parlor have had an IDD.
Closing was a tough decision, Lin said, but the store didn’t “break profit.”
“I don’t know if it was the parking or the side-street location,” Lin said. “We didn’t get enough walk-ins.”
“I know of other ice cream stores making along well, but [people] just weren’t coming to our store,” he said. Cary has over five other ice cream and dessert stores near downtown.
The store partnered with other businesses like Gigi’s Playhouse, which shared a wall with the parlor and works with children and young adults with Down Syndrome.
The store also made all its ice cream in house, with different specials and new flavors.
A place to train heroes
There are few places in Wake County like Howdy Homemade that create jobs for people with disabilities, and pay them a competitive wage. The employees at Howdy were paid above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
People with an IDD have a mental, cognitive or physical disability that can affect their self-care, language skills, mobility, learning and economic self-sufficiency, according to the state’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.
With the council’s help, more than 180,000 residents in the state with developmental disabilities receive assistance in finding and applying for jobs.
Lin said because of the flexible and inclusive work environment, one employee with a disability was promoted to shift leader at the store. It was a big accomplishment that encouraged other employees to aspire to do the same, he said.
“When I first did this, I was thinking of helping people,” Lin said. “But they actually made me a better person as well. We learned from each other. It was an honor working alongside them.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 3:50 PM with the headline "‘It was an honor.’ Cary ice cream shop that employs people with disabilities to close."