An ice cream shop in downtown Cary is closing its doors after a year in downtown.
On Monday, Howdy Homemade Ice Cream announced on social media that its last day of business will be November 24.
The salon opened in February with a line of customers around the corner on South Walker Street, next to Downtown Cary Park.
The nonprofit company was founded in Texas in 2015 and creates jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDD. It has nine locations, including in Cary and Asheville.
Phillip Lin, the owner of the Cary salon, told The News & Observer that the store helped people with disabilities learn transferable career skills and grow personally and professionally. Of the nearly twenty employees who worked in the parlor, thirteen had an IDD.
The store partnered with other businesses in the Cary community to serve more people with intellectual disabilities, such as Gigi’s Playhouse. The company shared a wall with the living room and worked with children and young adults with Down syndrome.
The store also made all its ice cream in-house, with different specials and new flavors.
“Thank you to those who supported us,” read the Facebook post. “We will miss seeing you all.”
N&O is working to find out more about the closure and what visitors can expect in the next two weeks.
