Retail
Molly Moon’s New Bellevue Location is Company’s Most Ambitious
By Rob Smith July 31, 2020
Large kitchen can be seen from sidewalk
Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream opens its ninth location in the Puget Sound region in Bellevue today.
The flagship shop is at 70 102nd Ave. N.E. It’s the 12-year-old company’s third Eastside location and second in Bellevue.
The 2,600-square-foot shop features a grand kitchen viewable from the sidewalk. The freezer is the size of a studio apartment. An automated pint-packing machine will enable the company to quadruple its pints-to-grocery program – a key element of its ability to remain solvent during the pandemic as foot traffic in stores declines. There’s also a photo wall for Instagram shots.
“It has been an incredibly difficult time for small businesses and small business employees since the start of the pandemic and opening this shop means we’ll be able to keep far more of our mooncrew employed through the coming fall and winter months,” says founder Molly Moon Neitzel, adding that the company has hired 17 employees to staff the new location. This is “the toughest time our business has ever experienced.”
Ten percent of sales today go to the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club.