Horizon West family to open custard shop in Hamlin

As children growing up in Rochester, New York, Steve and Jennifer Pelcher’s version of going out for ice cream was heading to the local Abbott’s Frozen Custard shop.

Having lived in Horizon West now for six years, the Rochester natives couldn’t help but notice that they missed the smaller, mom-and-pop ice-cream stores they experienced as children. But they also missed the famous Abbott’s frozen custard.

“When you went out for ice cream (in Rochester), you went out for Abbott’s,” Jennifer Pelcher said. “It’s one of the first things I do when I go back home. ... We felt the community was growing so quickly and there’s so many families and kids that we need something like this.” 

Now, the Pelchers’ 1,500-square-foot Abbott’s Frozen Custard shop is set to open in Hamlin in May 2019. The shop will have outdoor seating and feature anywhere from five to seven flavors of frozen custard at a time, depending on the season. 

“(Abbott’s) is a creamy, rich custard,” Steve Pelcher said. “The good thing about our custard is it’s very consistent and quite organic (in some ways). The cows that they make the milk from for the custard base are free-range cows that are fed special diets.”

All the ingredients in Abbott’s custard are made in upstate New York and shipped to franchisees. When delivered to each shop, the ingredients are combined and churned in a machine throughout the day in small batches. Each cone, dish, sundae or milkshake is hand-scooped and made to order.

“I’m most excited for people to taste the product and really understand what we’ve been talking about,” Steve Pelcher said. “Trying to explain something that you taste is very difficult. I’m also excited for our shop to be a place for families to go and hang out, to celebrate birthdays, promotions and team wins and all that fun stuff. We’re going try to create a place that is memorable for the kids here as it was for us growing up in New York.”