As warmer weather nears, the newly-opened Mel’s Ice Cream Shop will help to cool down Wilmington residents and visitors alike at its location in Monkey Junction.
 
Owner Melissa Lewkowicz describes Mel’s Ice Cream Shop as a family business born from a family passion.
 
“I have four kids, so, I thought, ‘What do we all love doing? We love eating ice cream!’” said Lewkowicz. “Some of our best memories have to do with us saying, ‘Hey, let’s get out and get some ice cream.’ It was a no brainer. It was this or hot dogs, and kids are more excited about ice cream.”
 
With a selection of 28 hard-serve ice cream flavors, Mel’s aims to fill waffle cones and spin milkshakes with flavors ranging from chocolate and vanilla to more exotic-named offerings like muddy sneakers and candy bar overload. The shop also boasts an extensive sundae menu with a dozen distinctive sundaes.
 
“It ranges from Mel’s Classic, which is two scoops of regular ice cream with hot fudge and whipped cream, to something a little bit more unique like the sweet n’ salty which actually has potato chips and pretzels on it,” said Lewkowicz. “We also have a Nutella sundae which people like. We try to keep it fun and we’re trying to add some different sundae varieties to draw more people in.”
 
Along with ice cream, Mel’s offers other sweet treats, including home-spun cotton candy.
 
“We said, ‘Well, let’s do something different that not everybody else does,’ and everyone loves cotton candy,” said Lewkowicz. “I don’t know who passes it up.”
 
In April, Mel’s will host fundraising events for Parsley Elementary School (April 5) and Codington Elementary School (April 12), with 50 percent of sales going to the schools’ Parent-Teacher Associations. On April 20, students with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities from Lindley College will visit Mel’s for a career event to talk with Lewkowicz and her husband Jonathan about small business ownership.
 
Mel’s Ice Cream Shop is open noon-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon-6 p.m. on Sunday. Mel’s is located in Suite C of the Monkey Barz Shopping Center at 5310 Carolina Beach Road in Wilmington. Current available flavors and more information can be found online on Facebook, Instagram and at http://www.melsicecreamshop.com.