The idea for Pearl Street Treats formed over a period of time and a strong desire to see a revitalization of our Historic Downtown Jeffersonville. After being invited to join the Board of Directors for Jeffersonville Main Street, a revitalization organization, I quickly realized this group was making tremendous progress turning our quaint downtown area into a wonderful, robust and charming area. New merchants were opening shops, residents were improving their homes, the streetscapes were improving, concerts and events were happening, people were returning and life was being renewed in our downtown again!
The only missing element was an ice cream shop! With summer events and new restaurants, I thought it would be great to have a place to get a tasty treat and stroll down our sidewalks enjoying the day or evening. But, at the time, I did not have any takers for the idea.
In 2014, after Jeffersonville decided where to place the landing for the Big 4 Pedestrian Bridge and I realized it was right beside the little bungalow home that my husband and I owned, it was absolutely decided the space would be the perfect spot for the ice cream shop I had longed for and I was going to do it!
In planning, it was suggested that I consider frozen yogurt instead of ice cream and I listened. I visited a frozen yogurt shop so I could try it and learned how much healthier it was, the choices available, how popular it had become, and that parents allowed their kiddos to have it over ice cream… I was sold!
I researched the types of frozen yogurt and found that the premium brand was Yo Cream made by Dannon and promptly enrolled in Yo Cream University. I traveled to Orlando and spent an intense course time learning all about the frozen yogurt industry.
I opened Pearl Street Treats in April of 2014 shortly before the Indiana side of the Big 4 Pedestrian Bridge was accessible to the public. Our goal is to be the first warm welcoming faces to visitors coming off the bridge, offer them refreshment and a bit of rest. Our hope is our visitors will be encouraged to venture further into our wonderfully revitalized Historic Downtown Jeffersonville and return time and time again.