What’s Next for Leona’s Ice Cream 

Ten years ago we (Christa and Katie) took a leap and decided to start an ice cream company. Our idea was to make high quality, super premium ice cream that is both real dairy AND lactose free. Our goal was to create beautiful flavors, using locally sourced ingredients. We started small and built slowly and for the last decade we’ve been making ice cream sandwiches and pints for grocery stores, neighborhood markets, breweries and restaurants. 

For years our customers have been asking for a storefront and we’ve finally found the right location and opportunity at the new food hall space, Lawrence Hall! It’s located in the Lawrenceville neighborhood at 4609 Butler St. 

Adding a retail aspect to our current wholesale business adds a significant increase in production and requires a lot of specialized equipment to make, store and serve ice cream at a scoop shop. All that to say it’s an expensive endeavor and we need your help to make it happen. 

With your help we can get this long held dream off the ground and get a cone into your hands! 
As we expand we are able to not only make more ice cream but create more jobs in our Wilkinsburg factory. 

Ice cream brings joy, please help us spread a little more in the world.

Why Crowdfunding?

Leona’s started small and grew with the help of you, our community. Your support for our little business and our adventurous flavors over the years has meant everything to us. And now that we are growing we want to include our community in that growth. 

With your help we can complete the expansion by purchasing and installing an additional walk-in freezer and harding cabinet at our factory. This will allow us to make and store the ice cream needed to supply the shop, our current equipment is at capacity! Additionally we will need reach in freezers to hold stock at the scoop shop as well as a dipping cabinet and display freezer for grab and go items. To purchase and install these items we are looking to raise $75,000. 

We are looking forward to serving you in this beautiful new space. We’ve set up perks designed to reward you in the best way we know how, with ice cream and fun ice cream items! Rewards range from an exclusive t-shirt or a wearable ice cream cooler to a private ice cream delivery or even collaborating on your dream flavor! We’ve scaled perks to make sure anyone who wants to help us grow has a level that works for them. Ice cream is for everyone! 

Risks & Challenges

Starting any new endeavor is risky and comes with lots of challenges, delays, equipment supply issues, etc.  We have a deep history of resiliency and problem solving that comes with being small business owners for more than a decade. We’ve made it through a complete freezer failure that melted our entire inventory and a global pandemic! We’re still here and we’re ready to take on this new exciting challenge. 

We’ve got longstanding relationships with our partners in the trades who will help source and install our new equipment. We are in good hands!  

We truly appreciate your help getting our first scoop shop off the ground. If you can’t contribute, please consider sharing our campaign with Indiegogo’s share tools. 

With a double scoop of gratitude,
Katie & Christa