Handel’s moved up two spots this year, a strong look for a brand with history going back 80 years. In recent history, the brand did $146 million in sales to close out 2024, up from $82 million in 2022, a 77.2 percent increase over three years.
CEO Jennifer Schuler said the brand’s value proposition is what has kept driving guests back to the concept, translating into same-store sales growth.
“The past year has been a strong one for us,” Schuler said. “We’ve been solid in terms of sales in a time frame when the restaurant industry has been flat. We have had positive transaction counts behind those same-store sales. That’s something we’re really proud of as a brand, that it’s not coming from completely out of price increases, and that’s something we’re really conscientious about.”
Jennifer Schuler is the CEO of Handel's Ice Cream.
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The unit count swelled to 157 in 2024, up 67 percent from 2022’s 94 stores. Schuler said as this continues, the concept’s leadership is staying humble.
“The bigger we are, the smaller we need to act,” Schuler said. “We do see ourselves as a national brand, with locations in 18 to 20 states, and we have this deep heritage. But as we do this, we think another thing that differentiates our shops from other players are the community ties we have and how local we feel. We try to maintain that feel, and franchising lends itself to doing that by finding partners in the community.”
It’s an effective strategy, Schuler said, with the brand nearly at 170 units now and an AUV of more than $1 million. To keep it up, Schuler said the brand has two objectives: securing real estate in new markets to expand brand reach, and finding good operators.
“You often hear people say the hardest thing to do is hiring and attracting the right people,” Schuler said. “I think the same is true in franchisees. Finding the folks who are going to preserve the heritage of the brand and deliver on the high-quality product. I think it’s a constant challenge, but it’s nice that we’re in the position where we can be picky about who we choose to bring in.”