Heaven Creamery is scooping up real estate.
The local ice cream parlor chain is moving its Cherry Creek store and has two new locations in the works in Arvada and Boulder.
The additions will bring the company to six stores in the area.
Owner Martha Trillo moved to Denver and opened the first Heaven Creamery in Centennial a few months before pandemic lockdowns. Prior to that, she opened Kiwi International Delights in Avon in 2014, which is still open.
In Cherry Creek, Heaven is moving from 299 Milwaukee St. to 1,500 square feet at 158 Fillmore St. because its current property is set to be redeveloped by its new owner, Matt Joblon’s BMC Investments.
Trillo said she knew when she entered the lease for 299 Milwaukee St. two years ago that the previous owners, the Gart family, planned to sell. She’ll open in the new spot this September.
“Fortunately, we didn’t struggle finding a place,” Trillo said. “It was meant to be, it was waiting for us. We were lucky because everything is under construction and it’s difficult to find places.”
In Arvada, Trillo expects to open later this year in 1,300 square feet at 7357 Grandview Ave.
“I wasn’t even thinking of opening another location, but honestly … we loved it so we couldn’t let it go,” Trillo said.
Her brother Julio Trillo and sister-in-law Eva Nuñez are bringing the creamery’s first franchise to Boulder with plans to open the 2,100-square-foot space at 2525 Arapahoe Ave. next month.
And amid all the new storefronts, Trillo also secured her own real estate for a production facility she’s calling Heaven Laboratorio. She purchased the 3,100-square-foot building at 1351 W. Alameda Ave. for $750,000 last month.
The ice cream has been made in Heaven’s individual stores, which Trillo said is becoming “impossible.” Production will shift to the new spot this fall.
“I was planning on retiring – I’m starting to look crazy – but when you have a passion for something, you don’t see your age, you see how you feel, and I feel strong and energetic to bring my dreams to reality,” Trillo said.
Heaven Creamery offers dairy, vegan and gluten-free frozen desserts with roughly 500 rotating flavors. Trillo said the most popular flavors right now are vanilla-brownie dulce de leche made with goat milk, mascarpone with pistachios and peaches, and the vegan avocado, kale, banana and spirulina gelato.
“My daughter was very severely intolerant to lactose, it was difficult, and that’s one of the reasons we do what we do, because we are conscious about all of those kids,” Trillo said. “We like to think about making everyone happy.”
Trillo was represented by broker Danchen Astle with ALG Commercial and banker Barbie Ellis with First Citizens Bank in all her real estate deals. Nathan Mendel with M&C Construction is her contractor.
This story was reported by our partner BusinessDen.
